"Tea and a Nobbly Bobbly" Painting The Old Bathing Station kiosk at Bexhill, Sussex

Bexhill-on-sea

I've been weather watching . This time of year is so unpredictable that it's hard to plan days out.
 For good reference photos I need sunshine and good visibility. Last Saturday however looked promising so we headed off to Bexhill-on-sea.
I can't remember going there before, it has a reputation as a retirement resort so I expected it to be small and not very interesting.
I was wrong!
The De La Warr Pavilion is a creative arts center and well worth a visit if you're in the area
http://www.discoverbexhill.com/attractions/delawarrpavilion.php

The beach is much bigger than I expected with rows of beach huts and ornate shelters. It's all very clean and very white!


Now, I have nothing against white and it all looks lovely, but as an artist that paints bright colourful paintings I wasn't feeling very optimistic about finding a scene that I would like to use in a composition. But, the weather was wonderful so we took a stroll along the seafront and enjoyed the views over the sea.
We hadn't walked far when to my delight I found just what I wanted...The Old Bathing Station .
A lovely little kiosk selling food, drinks and ice creams.
I people watched for a while.
 It made me think that no matter what age you are there is something rather special about sitting by the sea with a hot cup of tea or coffee and treating yourself to your favourite ice cream :)
This I decided would be the theme for my painting.....
                                    "Tea and a Nobbly Bobbly"
                                 ( Acrylic on canvas 24"x18")
Work in progress....It's taken quite a while to sketch out the composition as some parts were a bit complicated to focus on , but as the under painting progresses then it becomes a lot easier and clearer.

Sketching in and starting to add the first layers of paint 

Next I had to add a large amount of the shadows to enable me to start work on the foreground. Whilst areas dry I  worked on the smaller details elsewhere.
 

Starting to add the shadows and finer details to The Old Bathing Station (Bexhill beach)

 Today I had a good long painting session. The kiosk is now completed and I've made a bit more progress on the other areas. Next I shall be using some really tiny brushes and start bringing the picture to life .

Completing the detail on the kiosk.

 Finally it's finished :) ....

                                  "Tea and a Nobbly Bobbly" (Bexhill)  

"Tea and a Nobbly Bobbly" Painting The Old Bathing Station on Bexhill seafront