Surf Camp is the third collection of watercolor paintings I’ve released as Limited Edition Giclee Art Prints in my online shop. While my previous paintings featured bright blue skies, for these two paintings I had the pleasure of painting dark cloudy skies.
I’ve added six new paintings to my online shop! Four of the paintings are “The Green Collection.” You may remember that in August I launched my shop with “The Blue Collection.” Grouping the paintings by the color of the ocean made perfect sense to me when the giclee printer suggested it. Something that has always fascinated me about the ocean, is how the same water, in the same place, can be different colors at different times.
The Green Collection is the second set of watercolor paintings I’ve released as Limited Edition Giclee Art Prints. Click here to visit my online shop.
The paintings in the Green Collection are (from left to right):
The second day my son participated in surf camp was a cloudy day. When I saw my pictures I decided to try to paint the clouds, as many of my ocean paintings have clear blue skies.
Close up of the sky:
The start:
Progress on the water:
As much as I have developed a process for painting the ocean, with each painting I still have to figure things out – mixing the right colors and shades, capturing the details of the waves. It’s still a challenge, but a rewarding one!
Prints of my watercolor beach paintings are now for sale at shop.eileenmckenna.com. Take a peek!
The focus of this painting is the rocks – the jetty. I had fun creating the different shapes and shadows of the rocks. I’m especially proud of the wet look of the sand where the water has just receded. And of course this painting needed a seagull.
The beaches in my hometown are delineated by the jetties. They are an unmistakable characteristic of our beaches. So it seemed appropriate to have them be the star of a painting.
“Jetty” is part of “the Blue Collection” and is available as a Limited Edition Giclee Art Print in my online shop!
I primarily paint from my own photos. It’s nice to incorporate that into the process of a painting – capturing a moment that strikes me and later painting it. This painting is from a photo I took at my hometown beach of Long Beach, NY.
It’s taken from the angle of one set of jetties, looking towards the next set – the “side.” What I love about this painting is how much it reminds me of Long Beach – the jetty, the color of the water, the surfer, the waves, even the familiar angle – as you cross over the rocks and step onto the next beach.
“Side Surfer” is part of “the Blue Collection” and is available as a Limited Edition Giclee Art Print in my online shop!
This painting was a break through for me. It was the first painting where I used white gouache – more opaque than watercolor paint – to paint the foam and spray. Before this I relied on the white of the paper for those areas. Using gouache allowed me to create more depth in the foam and waves.
When I polled family and friends on which of my paintings I should make available as prints, everyone had #11 on their list. (#11 was the number I’d assigned to it.) It was written so often, it became #11 in my mind, so it seemed fitting to call it Blue Wave #11.
When I posted Blue Wave #11, I got such a great response! Comments included, “I can smell the salty air of the ocean” and “Soothing, as if I can almost hear the wave breaking.” It’s gratifying to feel you’ve made a breakthrough and then also have people respond to positively.
“Blue Wave #11” is part of “the Blue Collection” and is available as a Limited Edition Giclee Art Print in my online shop!
This watercolor was painted at the beginning of my “painting the beach” project, in early January. The painting is based on a photo I took on New Year’s Day. You can tell it’s a cold day because the surfer – who is just noticeable – is all in black, in a wetsuit and cap. He has let a wave pass him by while he waits for a better one, hence the name of the painting “Waiting.”
“Waiting” is part of “the Blue Collection” and is available as a Limited Edition Giclee Art Print in my online shop!
The Blue Collection is the first set of watercolor paintings I released as prints. When I first showed the giclee printer my favorite watercolor paintings she sorted them and pointed out that in these four, the water is shades of blue, while in others it is green. I immediately saw it too, and so the Blue Collection was born. One of the things that amazes me about the ocean is that the water can be different colors on different days.
The paintings in the Blue Collection are (from left to right):
The Blue Collection is available as a Limited Edition Giclee Art Print in my online shop!
Sometimes I paint the beach and sometimes I go there and just take it all in.
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