Inspiration in the Solitude of the Quiet Seasons
Paul Batch explains his process for painting beach scenes in the wintertime
Paul Batch explains his process for painting beach scenes in the wintertime
It’s December in Cape Cod. There’s plenty of parking, no lines for lunch, the beaches are bare. At this moment, it’s just me and the Atlantic. I’ve lived all of my life in New England, a region of abundant subjects that I whole heatedly embrace. The White Mountains of New Hampshire, the forests of Vermont, the coastal rocks in Maine made famous by Winslow Homer, it’s all here. It’s all been painted before by artists far more accomplished than I. I am here now.
Like no other subject the experience of painting at the ocean makes me feel heroic and at the same time incredibly small. It’s this experience that I’m trying to convey in this piece. In order to do so I’m going to need some reference materials.
Oil Sketches
I already had an idea of what I wanted to paint, standing where the land meets the ocean, so I went and found a spot. Today we are at Nauset Beach. When working outside I use turpentine, transparent red oxide,
ultramarine blue, titanium white (added after photo), a Robert Simmons No. 6 egbert bristle brush and a rag. I begin by using red oxide and add blue to it as needed for where it needs to be darker; the lighter values are wiped out with a rag or paper towel. I added white later in the session for the waves and to blue up the sky a bit.
Concept Sketch
I wanted an image that would convey how vast the ocean is and how far the sky goes. This is what I developed. The moon added a point of interest and importantly adds another layer to the sky. Now we are looking out past our world.