INTERPRETATION AND VARIATIONS
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My intention with this series of paintings is to invite the viewer to concentrate on The Sea much more than they might usually. Observing the movement, shapes and colours of the seascape, influenced by the natural elements of sun, wind and rain.
These pictures came about because I would fish at Frazer Reef just north of Iluka, New South Wales Australia, often losing my bait (mostly to seagulls) in a short space of time. Then I would sit on the same rock each day and draw the sea, always facing towards north-east.
It was easy to make variations of this scene as the sea was never the same from one day to another.
Although the smaller pastel drawings were done in sequence over many enjoyable weeks, the larger pictures were painted afterwards at random over the following year.
To quote Matisse: “To render beauty accessible to all”
The motion of the water, plus the ruffle of wind over it, gave a special effect to the sea this day. So I was inspired to capture this using the "Sfumato Technique" of drawing invented by Leonardo Da Vinci.
"Sfumato" means "smoke" in Italian, meaning a gradual blending of one colour into another without a sharp outline. This I could do easily with pastels, but later when painting with gouache the exercise became a bit difficult. Often I would practice on the rice paper and then cover what was not needed with paint.