Now that I’m about halfway through – having got right into painting the sea, beach and a cloudless sky – it’s time to concentrate and consider the other elements of the painting.  The intention was always to feature a spectacular sky so I’ve been studying cloud formations at sunrise and sunset. The location of my studio directly on the seafront in Brighton has meant that I’ve witnessed several inspiring sunsets while working on the painting. I’ve been known to say “the sky is performing for me!”. The other crucial component is a boat. For the client, the boat symbolises his father, who died at sea while scuba diving.

I’ve spent the last couple days painting some mini seascapes to scale of the actual painting with the intention of trying out different cloud formations and placements of the boat. For fun, I will post these as if it were a competition, announcing the winning piece last.

In 5th place is this piece:

Seascape sketch - 5th place