"Counting Waves II", oil, 16 x 20"

This is one of the first paintings from the seascapes series. I had to wait for it to dry before I made some corrections.

I really like the sand/mud color in the rolling wave. I believe the bird is a royal tern.

"Counting Waves II", oil, 16 x 20

"Rolling in from the Deep", Oil, 16 x 20"

More waves...

"Rolling in from the Deep", Oil, 16 x 20"

"Calm Break", Acrylic, 6 x 8"

I had some trouble working with this paint, but at the end of the day I was very happy with this little painting.

This is my first experience with "Open Acrylics". This is a "new" kind of acrylic that stays wet longer than the traditional acrylic. So it is possible to work wet on wet (similar to oil). The paint dries overnight unless applied thickly. So this would be good for traveling by plane... There is not much body to the paint. So I'll have to try different painting mediums and see if I can get a consistency I like.

"Calm Break", Acrylic, 6 x 8"

"Sunlight and Curl", Oil, 12 x 16"

These wave paintings force me to work on my brushstrokes more than ever before. Maybe because there is not much else going on... I need to find (simple) ways to represent the different textures in the water. I'm happy with the  textures in this one, but the brushwork lacks some finesse... I need (a lot) more practice... :-)

"Sunlight and Curl", Oil, 12 x 16

Closeup view 

"Double Break", Oil, 9 x 12"

I'm still having fun with these seascapes/waves. I have a hard time with the composition though. It's hard to work with "horizontal stripes" and make it interesting... so I concentrated more on the different textures, movements and reflections in the water.

"Double Break", Oil, 9 x 12"

Close up view

"Untitled 3", oil, 12 x 16"

Keep it simple! For some reason this comes to mind mostly when I paint water. It seems to work but I don't know why I don't react the same way with other subjects like skies, trees,...

On this one I was happy to find a simple way to paint the foam in between the two waves without too much labor.

"Untitled 3", oil, 12 x 16"

"Coming in Heavy", Oil, 9 x 12"

Having fun with another seascape... Any title suggestions?

"Coming in Heavy", Oil, 9 x 12"

"Diamonds in the Surf", Oil, 16 x 20"

It's no secret that I like to paint water, but I never had a chance to really paint the sea. A few weeks ago Ken and I went to Florida to visit friends for the weekend. I did sketches on the beach and came back with a bunch of reference pictures.

I don't remember the last time I've been so excited/inspired to paint from my reference pictures... so I'm starting a new series: Seascapes. You will see blue for a while :-)

"Diamond in the Surf", Oil, 16 x 20

Closeup view