December art newsletter part 11 Dunes

Dunes

Dunes is my first watercolor painting of sand dunes on the beach. I had painted several sand dune paintings in oil and they are some of my favorite works. This work is available as an original and a fine art modern print.

This particular painting was inspired by a visit I took to Cumberland Island, Georgia. An old ferry boat surrounded by shrimp boats loaded up with me, my wife, my two children, my mother (a school teacher) and her students. This spot is an area of the Island that my wife, Sheila, thought looked very romantic as the trail opened up to the gorgeous view of the ocean and beach. I am from Georgia and have only been there once.

This part of Georgia is known as the Golden Isles and is comprised of Sapelo Island, Cumberland Island, St Simons Island, and Jekyll Island. There is a ferry that holds 60 people that departs and returns once a day to the island. I remember the island was very beautiful and one of the most tranquil desolate places I have ever been. The beach suffered less of mankind’s effects and appeared untouched. In the distance I could see wild horses throwing sand in the air, while racing down the beach..

There were no merchant stores or gas stations; no roadways; only the one ranger station that took good care of the sea turtles who returned to the same beach year after year to lay their eggs. The eggs then would hatch and return to the very same beach where they would continue the egg laying cycle started by their parents and grandparents.

I will never forget the several mile long beach side return trip back to the ferry boat at the end of the day. Me, being the only man of the bunch ended up carrying about 100 pounds of seashells in my rucksack for all of the students in my mom’s class. There is nothing better than a romantic walk on the beach while surrounding by tons of first graders. Other than that it was a pretty romantic, quiet day. After returning from the beach I had taken a picture of that favorite spot that my wife noticed over watching the beach and the sunset that beautiful day.

Sizes and Options

Art print 11 x 14 $25.00 USD Art print 8 x 10 $15.00 USD

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Beach Watercolor Paintings

Beach Watercolor Painting

Dunes 3

This painting is an 18 x 24 inches original watercolor and is also available as a fine art modern print. It is a huge modern artwork of a beach nautical seascape. The foreground is high beach dunes. You can't see the beach but you know it is there! The location is Cocoa Beach Florida, while I was staying at the Ron Jon Surf Resort. Cocoa Beach is the nearest beach to Orlando, Florida the city that hosts Disney World and Universal Studios.

While driving down A1A in Cocoa Beach there are certain areas where the land has been purchased by large companies and you can not view the dunes from the road. This spot is a place road side where you are very close to the beach right off of A1A and this is a view from the street as a tourist would see while passing by. There is little undisturbed beach front property remaining in Florida.

Brevard County, the county for Cocoa Beach is the home of three time surf champion, Kelly Slater. This are is also the place where the TV show “I Dream of Jeanie” was filmed. This particular painting is a scene only a few feet from “I Dream of Jeanie Lane”. I personally loved that show when I was growing up. Brevard County is also the home of Cape Canaveral Florida where NASA launches the space shuttle and other numerous rockets.

My intent with this painting was to be very basic. Very little is sometimes just right, especially when it comes to watercolours and keeping the look soft. The sand on these sand dunes feels like baby powder under your feet and I tried to replicate that in the work. The darker shades of beige in the sand are light damp spots from dripping from the overhead sea oats and shadows. The sea oats are also a protected plant. The reason that the sand dunes are high is they protect the land from the erosion caused by high energy blasting waves especially during the hurricane season. The sea oats in the sand assist in providing stability for the earth to provide a natural barrier for the elements and the ocean. 11 x 14 inch fine art print 25 plus 7 shipping.

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Price: $32 USD
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View more art at my gallery at
Beach Watercolor Paintings

Light at Night 3 lighthouse painting

Another lighthouse tried to do this one with an evening nautical twilight theme. This was an experimentation with dark water, the light from the lighthouse and using gouche with the ends of the waves where they crash with the beach. View or purchase this art at my gallery at
Lighthouse Paintings