View from Rock - Commission - SOLD

Rock is a village in North Cornwall, just across the Camel estuary from Padstow.  I was asked to paint a view across the estuary, so we detoured that way at Easter and were fortunate enough to find Rock basking in wonderful sunshine.


(We were also fortunate to find Allen Caswell's exhibition of stunning winter seascapes, but that is quite a different story to this sunny low tide.)

The tide was out, but the estuary's sands are golden and the grounded boats are picturesque. Across the estuary, the obelisk on Dennis Hill lays claim to the skyline. Padstow itself (a cluster of sun-reflecting windows) is offstage to the right, as is the Atlantic Ocean (not visible from my vantage point).

I had a lot of options for a title. I considered variations on the Camel and Rock, even wondering if Dennis might come into it... but in the end, I discarded the puns and the surreal and went for the straightforward description.

And here is a straightforward selection of in-progress shots:

The sandy underpainting was acrylic and was made with a 3" brush and imperfectly
mixed colour.  This effect was also applied to the edges of the box canvas.

I let it dry before spreading the oil paint over the top.

 

View from Rock
Oil on box canvas, 24 x 24 inches
SOLD