Painting at the beach and along the coast is always an adventure (think gusting wind, airborne sand, and rising tides), but as a dedicated plein air painter there's no substitute for being out there in the thick of it. Besides the incredible color, I find the sounds of the waves soothing and the atmosphere invigorating.

A while back, I had the pleasure of painting the coastline for 5 days, and returned with a few studies of rocks and surf, in different types of light.

My approach to painting this subject rarely involves a camera:

In order to capture water in motion with color, I observe the repeated action of surf as it hits the rocks — not so much to copy a particular splash, but to note the colors of the shadows and light planes as they occur, and express these with shapes that work within my composition.

When successful, these moments of surf action frozen in time show that a column of water rising up from a rock has as much structure and form as a vase of flowers or a tree — and that it's really the light that falls upon them that reveals their beauty.

Camille