Axe Estuary at Seaton

The light at the Axe Estuary is always changing. It is a great place to paint because of the red mud and the blue water. I recently did a live painting demo for the Seaton and District Art Society. It was a busy room with about 60 people watching. It is always fun to share my tips with a big group of fellow artists.

I started this painting by looking at the shapes of the boats. I used some Burnt Sienna and Light Red to get that warm colour of the river bank. The sky has some soft Cerulean Blue and Ultramarine. I like to let the wet paint mix on the paper to create a soft feeling in the clouds. This helps the painting look more natural and less stiff.

In the middle of the painting, I used some dark Neutral Tint and Burnt Umber. This makes the white boats stand out and look bright. For the grass in the front, I used Spring Green and some Viridian. Adding two figures on the right side helps to show how big the landscape is. It gives the eye a place to rest and tells a little story about the day.