November Dunes and Beach Houses

Beachhouses Dunes and Fencing - Stage One

I returned to Burkes Beach in Green Harbor on a mild November day and this time instead of facing the ocean, I faced north.   The scene included dunes to my left, snow fencing, the jetty, and beach houses on the far side of the Green Harbor River.  This painting developed fast because I decided to use mostly palette knife applying lots of thick, juicy paint.   I used a small straight edge brush to paint the beach houses.  Even though the goal was to be loose, my psyche would never allow "non-plumb"architectural verticals.   So extra care was given to the squareness of houses, their little porches and shuttered windows.

Beachhouses Dunes and Fencing

Here is a quick summary on how I painted the snow fences.   First I blocked in the sand dunes with a light, but thin, warm sand color.  I let the brush strokes imply the slope of the dunes.    I then determined the color and value of the cool shadows of the fence post and slats.  I painted those shadows in next so that the shadows sat on top of the dunes.   Next I added the fence slats starting each stroke at the base of its shadow and drawing the brush up as if emerging from its shadow..    In a couple of cases I came back over some choice slats with a thick palette knife stroke.

November days like this one are every bit as pleasant as a summer to me, maybe even more so!