At the Edge of the Deep Green Sea IV
12″ x 12″ x 1.5″, oil on canvas, ready to hang.
NFS (Not for Sale)
I have been working on three seascapes this week and this one is the first one finished.
With this wild seascape, I wanted to create a colour arrangement with an unusual, unsettled feel that’s beyond description while capturing the energy of the sea. I pushed towards that with an analogous palette: viridian green placed between blue and yellow.
Then, I tweaked the colours. I picked the cool green as the focus and added a warm blue with a touch of red in the curtains of rain and a warm yellow with a touch of red on the horizon and on the filtered sunlight.
The next stage was creating a state of flux with the painting spinning counter clockwise.
From the sun at the apex, our eye is led down to the bottom left and then swept down over the rocks to the bottom right. After that, it goes back up to the top via a blue curtain of light.
The eye spins and the sea rocks and rolls, while at the centre, the island sits on the horizon, oblivious to the drama surrounding it, solid and immutable.
Do you get that queasy feeling? I’d love to know.
I do feel moved by the turbulence created purely by your composition, colour, light and shade John; I can sense that ‘rock and roll’ as it tosses my eyes around the scene. I also feel moved by the power evoked by the sea and how it contrasts with the steady predictability of land which sits firmly, close to the horizon at mid-point. Perhaps this is one reason why we find islands so compelling? The sun at the top of the triangular ccomposition steadies the eye and allows us to embrace the scene below.
Thank you Christine for your comment. It’s good to hear that you feel that rocking and rolling feeling. I hope it didn’t make you feel quesy 🙂 I agree with your thoughts on islands, they are compelling, always there but buffeted by the elements