Aveiro Salt Flats, Portugal

The salt pans of Aveiro in Portugal offer a wonderful view for any painter who enjoys shapes. I felt very drawn to the sharp grid pattern made by the wooden dividers in the water. These lines create a natural perspective that leads your eye right into the heart of the painting. Working with these squares and rectangles feels like solving a puzzle with a brush.

The sky on this day was full of big, soft clouds. I wanted to capture how the blue of the sky and the white of the clouds looked when they sat on the surface of the still water. By using a mix of Cobalt Blue and Cerulean Blue, I could make the reflections look deep and clear. The water acts like a mirror, so I made sure to keep my brush strokes light and wet to get that glassy finish.

For the buildings in the background, I chose warm earth tones like Burnt Sienna and some Light Red for the roofs. These warm colours stand out well against the cool blues of the water and the greens of the grass. I used some Neutral Tint to add shadows under the eaves of the houses. This helps to give the buildings a solid feel against the flat landscape of the salt pans.

The foreground has some small bits of green plants growing near the edges of the pans. I used a little Viridian Green mixed with Yellow Ochre to show these little splashes of life. The contrast between the straight, dark lines of the dividers and the soft, messy shapes of the grass adds a bit of interest to the bottom of the page. I find that these small details make the whole scene feel more real.

If you like this painting of the Aveiro Salt Flats, it is currently for sale. Please contact me directly if you would like more information or are interested in buying it for your home.