Learn How to Paint with Chris Vidal

'Plein Air' painting at Fingal Bay NSW

Above: Fingal Bay NSW

Above: under-painting done on location

Last Sunday was an excellent day to go to the beach and since for the last couple of days I was at Port Stephens, then I headed to Fingal Bay. It was early morning but the day was already hot and so I sat down and prepared my painting kit at a location overlooking the beach at Fingal Bay.

After choosing the scenery I started my underpainting using acrylic paints. Using cobalt blue I drew a very rough sketch consisting of the main shapes in the painting. Then I started putting layers of thin paint while adding more details. Cerulean blue and titanium white were used for the distant part of the sky while cobalt blue was added to the upper part and corners. Titanium white with a touch of alizarin red and raw sienna was used for the cirrus clouds. A mix of titanium white, cobalt blue and touch of raw sienna was used to block the most distant land mass, adding some more blue and alizarin crimson to the mid land mass (Shark Island). The closest land mass was blocked with ultramarine blue, vermilion and yellow ochre. A mix of alizarin and ultramarine blue was used as an underpaint to the sand.

The water was painted using ultramarine blue and touch of raw sienna with white at the background adding more blue to the middle water together with turquoise. More yellow ochre was added to the shallow water closer to the shoreline. The sand was painted using white and yellow ochre plus a touch of burnt sienna.

In the sun the acrylics were drying up in a matter of seconds and so I immediately started adding some more details and highlights to the distant land. The highlights were done by adding white to the base color and then adding naples yellow and touch of orange to the sunlit areas. The vegetation at the closest land mass was done using ultramarine blue, cadmium yellow and red gold. I briefly sketched in three sea gulls that at that time landed on the beach. However the day became too hot and so almost impossible to paint with acrylics. So I decided that I will take the sketch back to the studio to finish it.  I will post the finished work very soon.