Fourth Cliff View

Ocean Outlet at Northern tip of Humarock

The northernmost tip of Humarock, Massachusetts is US Government property and is actually inhabited by US Air Force personnel. It is known as "Fourth Cliff."  As you can imagine by looking at the map the view is amazing.   The east wind off the open ocean on this day was strong, so I set up facing northwest.  

The shorelines in the background of my scene were Third Cliff and Second Cliff and the (much maligned), towering wind turbine.  I wanted to include the wind turbine because it offered a nice vertical element to break up all the horizontals.   The many horizontal planes from farthest to closest included the treeline, the oceanfront homes, and the sandy shoreline.  This inlet forms the mouth of where rivers meet the ocean, and there was an impressive amount of churn out in the middle. A calmer strip of water was next closest, and finally was the area of breakers onto the shore right in front of me.   A vocal flock of brants bobbed around at the immediate shoreline (audible ambiance adding to the waves and wind).  

Makeshift Palette Knife

I forgot my palette knife, and given the cold, it was a problem because I really like to use it to mix and spread stiff cold paint. I unsuccessfully fished through everything when I got the idea to use a credit card.   ( Btw - If you have ever travelled and found yourself needing a windshield scraper for your frosty rental car, a license or credit card works.)   I found an old Rewards card that isn't even honored anymore.  I liked the width and the bendability of the plastic card and used it to do wide horizontal strokes of the sky and ocean.   As you know a single wide stroke left untouched or reworked can be very nice!

From Fourth Cliff - Stage One

As I reached the end when it was time to put in the wind turbine, I couldn't get the turbine paint to stick to the sky paint that was already there.   I needed my palette knife rather that the credit card.   I marked where it should go and packed up.   The stronger March sun had warmed the car and it felt great, kind of like a reward to top off an exhilarating paint out.





Fourth Cliff Early Spring Final