Tag Archives: marine

Underwater paintings

Underwater Paintings

At the moment I am completing a series of underwater paintings. Most of these paintings will be very colourful and have a cosmic element to them. For me, underwater paintings are similar to paintings of outer space.

Subject Matter

There will be a lot of jellyfish, seahorses, etc in these paintings. This series of underwater paintings will explore light and colour. Consequently, they will mix different media, including oil, ink, resin and other media. They will also seek to show the ‘other worldly’ nature of pictures representing under the sea.

jellyfish

Title: Jellyfish Size: 50 * 60 cm. Medium: Mixed media on canvas. Price: $380

This is one of the first paintings of the series. It is called Jellyfish. This painting uses oils and inks and resin. I hope to complete a series of these for an upcoming exhibition.

Techniques used in the underwater paintings.

These underwater paintings will be painted using many layers of paint and other media. The paint comes first. Then a layer or two of ink is added. More layers of oil and ink are added to increase the depth and the inner glow of the paintings. Finally, a layer of resin will be added to give increased depth and colour to the works. Not all the paintings will use resin.

These paintings will be portraits of jellyfish (like above), while others will have varying amounts of depth to them. These paintings will tend to be larger.

Another World.

Under the sea is like another world. Hence, it is an alien world where strange creatures inhabit. A cosmic element will be infused into the works emphasising the unfamiliar nature of this aquatic world. Therefore, these paintings will lean towards being surreal.

All the paintings will be ready to an exhibition due in mid January, here in Coffs Harbour. Hence, all the paintings will be for sale. I will tell everyone of the details of the exhibition in the coming weeks.

 

Blue Vein – New Painting. A macro view of rocks.

Blue Vein – New Painting. A macro view of rocks.

 

This work is called Blue Vein. It’s a new work in the landscape section where you can find its details. It is a macro painting of some rocks located near Coffs Harbour. The blues and oranges in create an interesting push and pull in an otherwise flat painting. The surface is littered with interesting shapes and lines, crevices and bulges which sweep across the surface. Blue Vein is painted in oils and uses broad colours which come close to primary colours. There are few greys in Blue Vein. Realism is sacrificed and replaced with motion and pattern and line.

 

.Blue Vein

The landscape painting can be a  vista incorporating aerial perspective in order to create the illusion of depth. However this painting chooses to depict a small flat section of rock becoming more of a portrait of a section of rock on the surface of the Earth. The workings of the sea are evident in the pock holes and interesting patterns running across the surface.

The work is small and intimate. It is taken from a spot near Digger’s Beach north of Coffs Harbour. There are numerous spots near Digger’s beach similar to this one. Blue Vein is typical of the type of rock formation present near this popular swimming and surfing beach.