Summer sun and seaside holiday fun !

Life's been really busy lately. I have been very fortunate and sold rather a lot of paintings, the man in the post office now greets me with "another one? " ....ha ha!
I have just completed a commission and about to start another one so I decided to have a painting break for a week and catch up on some other bits and pieces .
Now with all the little jobs done and not quite so hectic days I can have a bit of Summer fun !
I'm planning another beach trip soon, I love the colours and madness of the British seaside and want to make the most of it ! There's also the wonderful traditions such as fish 'n' chips, ice cream, sticks of rock, carousel rides, Helter Skelter and of course.....Punch and Judy !
I couldn't resist  painting the children waiting for the puppet show to start.
 The puppet tent took a lot of work so I was delighted that it sold within minutes of me putting it up for sale :)

                                            "Waiting for the Punch line" (Sold)

"Waiting for the Punch line" Acrylic on canvas

One of the wonderful things about the seaside, is that no matter how old you are, there is nothing quite like soaking up the Summer sunshine and just watching the World go by.....

                                  "Golden days and Silver surf"
                                Acrylic on canvas 20"x 16"

"Golden days and Silver surf" A fun colourful beach painting

 

Summer and "A Birds Eye View"

Well life has been rather hectic lately, all in a good way though.
I'm delighted to have made lots of sales, to the point where it feels like I'm at the post office as much as I am at home! Ha ha!
I have been busy this week working on a commission which I can't divulge at the moment other than it is a lovely landscape .
Then, on the best sunshine days I have been out and about exploring more places with my camera.  I am working on a South Downs landscape at the moment , a wonderful composition of distant views and wild flowers .....watch this space!

Of course it wouldn't be Summer without a trip to Brighton beach. I decided to go and do some "people watching" , the beach is always such a wonderful mix of people, kids playing, oldies snoozing, boisterous teenagers and pretty girls sunbathing.
They're talking about culling the seagulls at Brighton,  but to be honest the problems are caused by the people that feed them for their own entertainment . Just a small piece of bread thrown into the air causes a chaos of squawking and feathers that delight some and terrify others!
So, anyway, as I said, July has been hectic and I thought it was time for a bit of Summer fun .
 Going back to the pretty girls sunbathing, oblivious to anything other than the overwhelming heat of the sun and the desire to sun tan as much body area as possible.
They lie on the beach with no interest of what is going on around them, not even the cheeky feathered squawking seagulls that fly and swoop above .............
                                                          "Birds Eye View"
                                                           Acrylic on canvas 24"x 12"

"Birds Eye View" A little bit of Summer painting fun!

 

Fun on the beach ......

I've decided I've had enough of the bleak Winter weather and thought I would have a bit of Sussex seaside fun.
Eastbourne is a well known retirement resort and seemed like the perfect setting for my composition. Working from several reference photos and changing the clothing I have created somerthing that I hope you will find amusing and perhaps a little typical of our British seasides .
As we get older, rounder and slower , perhaps we all still hold a childhood desire to be a Super Hero !

                            "Seaside Super Heroes" 
                              Acrylic on canvas 24"x 18" x 1.5" 

Fun seaside painting set in Eastbourne, Sussex

Then of course I couldn't leave the seaside theme without a pretty girl sunbathing on the beach ,waves crashing on the shore ensure a cooling spray to make a perfect day....

                                               "Hot Pink and Heatwave"
                                                      Acrylic on canvas 24"x 18"x 1.5"

Hot Pink and Heatwave , beach painting

"Sea Spray and Sun Cream" and "Seaside Shadows" Painting the girls on Brighton beach

As the Summer comes to an end I couldn't leave it without capturing the pretty girls sunbathing on the beach at Brighton.
I loved the way they just seemed to abandon everything and succumb to the last rays of the Summer sunshine.
 The waves crashing on the beach seemed to add to the over powering moment of indulgence.

                                             "Sea Spray and Sun Cream"
                                      Acrylic on canvas 24"x 16"

Painting the girls on Brighton beach

                                                 

Well as I've painted the girls with the emphasis on the sun I thought I would go the other way and concentrate on the shadows.
I was busy people watching on Brighton pier and loved the way that the shadows were cast and their silhouettes on the deck chairs.
I am working from 3 different photos so the first thing I had to do was to get the continuity of the railings right and the wooden planks of the pier, I was then able to start work on the deck chairs.

Getting the railings and woodwork in the right place .

The stripes on the chairs needed about 5 layers of paint to get opacity that I required.
 This can get a bit monotonous so to help me keep my concentration I started on the wooden chair frames.

Building up the layers on the chairs

Once the basic blocks of colour were dry I was able to flit about adding thin washes of paint. I also made a start on the shadows, these will transform the painting making it look really different

Starting to add the shadows and build up washes of colour

 .Finally the shadows are ....I hope you like it! :)
                                    "Seaside Shadows"

Seaside Shadows, painting of the girls relaxing on Brighton Pier, Sussex

              Tote bags and throw pillows are available from Redbubble  http://www.redbubble.com/people/poak/shop/throw-pillows?ref=artist_shop_product_refinement

"Seaside Shadows" Tote bags and throw pillows