A fishing boat rests on the sandy mudflats, near to a ramshackle jetty, at low tide, at Heybridge Basin. My impressionistic interpretation, in heavy body acrylics on canvas, features blocky brushwork, focussing on subtle colour changes, pattern and a sense of movement. Details are kept to a minimum with ropes and fishing gear just suggested with the edge of a palette knife. I love the changes that happen as a landscape moves into the distance, with the vertical foreground shapes gradually appearing to become horizontal lines. I guide the viewer into the middle distance and the focal point of the boat, by keeping the foreground quite abstract ,with accents applied in gestural palette knife work. I've allowed the red ground to show through in places, to enhance the feeling of warmth in this early summer scene, with clouds moving overhead.
I worked from my own reference photos from walking round the Basin. I love the contours and variety that boats provide as subjects.
July 2018, shortlisted for the RSMA exhibition at the Mall Galleries.
- Subject Matter: boat seascape
- Current Location: The New Art Gallery - c/o The Coach House Gallery High Street, Alfriston, East Sussex BN26 5TD (google map)
- Collections: Landscapes, Seascapes, Seaside themes