Coastal Sunrise
[Image ID] A gouache painting of a coastal landscape at sunrise. A yellow sun is just emerging above the horizon. The sky is a diagonal gradient of blue into purple then orange and yellow as it gets closer to the horizon. Patches of red-orange clouds dot the sky. A reflected yellow path crosses the sea from the sun towards the shore. There are some rugged rocky outcrops on the horizon, either side of the sun. A pile of rocks are in the foreground on the left and a rock juts out above the water, between the yellow pathway and the shore. [description end]
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When I began this piece my starting point was the colours of the sunlit sky, so the scene itself was created spontaneously in the moment. This was quite fun as a change of process since I normally begin pieces with a more concrete plan of how I want them to look. As a result of not having a plan, I chose what to paint according to the tones left in my paint palette after finishing the sky, and went from there.
That approach worked very well for the lighting, as the colours from the sky were naturally reflected in the rest of the scene as I used up the paint. I found painting the rocky outcrops much more enjoyable in gouache than with watercolour as the more opaque quality of gouache helps them to seem solid.
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Daler Rowney Aquafine Texture watercolour paper
Castle Arts Gouache paints
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Artwork ©Dragonsflyatsunset 2022, all rights reserved.