For this small 12" x 12" piece, I decided to paint a simple idea of a golden sunset over emerald waters, and waves lapping up on the shore. I wanted the sun to be low and centered in in the painting, with it's rays broadcast towards the viewer. It's quite a common theme in sunset themed ocean pictures, but I didn't want to be different, I just wanted it to stoke the many memories I had of many such scenes as I grew up around the ocean in Guam, Hawaii, Florida and California.
First thing I did was to sketch with a scene with water soluble pencils. Water soluble pencils blend well with the acrylic paint that I use to paint the underpainting with. If I use graphite pencils, they would tend to leach the dark graphite into the paint, making it much darker in an uncontrolled way.
Next, I start to put down my yellow ochre undercoat to cover the entire white canvas. And start making note of where the sky meets the ocean, the shoreline and basic cloud structure.
I use combinations of Ultramarine Blue, Cerulean Blue, French Ultramarine, Cadmium Yellow, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Titanium White, Cadmium Red Light Hue, and Sap Green to block in color shapes.
Once I get the blocking to where I like it, I start the refining process to build up the structure of the lapping waves upon the shore and the trickle of golden sunlight on the surface of the water. I also start to refine the cloudy structures.
Then, I start to go into the details of the waves and sea foam.
My idea is to keep the gold sunlight sparkling on the surface of the water, but also show the brilliant emerald green in the shallow waters beyond. Also, I wanted the clouds to appear to radiate from the central focus point of the sun which is where I want the eye to be drawn to.
The untitled oil painting in final form below. This was a quick and small oil painting that my wife wanted, and so it was dedicated to her.
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