Painting “Toward Flamborough Head”
Plein‑Air Painting – Oil on Canvas Panel
North Beach, Bridlington, East Yorkshire, England, UK
This was the first outdoor painting of the year, after a winter hiding indoors and a big exhibition project.
I was desperate to get outside and paint, so when a lovely day presented itself, I decided to go on the spur of the moment. The need to make some plein‑air art had been nagging at me for too long.
I beetled off to Bridlington on the Yorkshire East Coast, UK, despite much to do back home – it was a bit naughty.
The light by the sea at Brid though, is always a joy, and North beach is constantly fascinating with its groynes†, shifting patterns of sand, and gleaming white pebbles. I could resist no longer.
Feeling nervous I'd find I was out of practice painting outdoors, en plein‑air, I arrived determined to come away with something.
The light was bright and clear. Just a sneaky cold wind meant I had to seek a protected corner to paint from.
I need not have worried about being 'rusty'. This painting has captured the colours of a late winter-early spring day on this beautiful beach.
Flamborough Head was stretching out into the sea on the horizon clear and bright, with its white chalk cliffs shining in the bright sun. Had I not gone, I'd have missed it all.
The textures in the foreground, the colours, the headland are all very satisfying to my eye, and it set me up for painting for the rest of the year.