Pictures within the picture

Starfish at Hell's Mouth

In a recent post I mentioned an oil painting I did some time ago. This is it.

It's called 'Starfish at Hell's Mouth'. A lot of people seem to like it but (as you already know) I'm not happy with it - although there are some 'bits' of it I really like, which is the way with most of my paintings.

Anyway, this weekend I decided to take another look at the painting, which is quite large, and see if I could pick out some of the 'bits' I like, as a learning exercise ready for my painting to come. I found that I like a lot of areas in the picture; it's just the painting as a whole that doesn't work for me.

As a complete painting it's too rigid and too much of a 'painting' - but I really like some of the little paintings contained within, they really work for me.

Here's what I mean.

This is the 'starfish' (it's bottom right of the main picture). It isn't the starfish I like, but the colour and texture of the beach - I'm happy with the range of hues and the subtle contrasts. This is about actual size so should give you some idea of the scale of the painting.

This is that patch of sky in the centre of the picture. I like the vertical brushstrokes, and think I've caught the feel of movement I was looking for. I particularly like that small white brushstroke on the left and those horizontal reflections that sit on the sea line.

These are the waves on the left of the picture. I like the way I've done the spray and the reflections in the wash on the beach.

This is the sky in the top left. I like most of the sky in the painting, but I really like the deep crimson of the oncoming storm at the corner. I also like the snatched white brushing that I've used across the sky, along with the orange contrast of the land against the deeper dark azure blue sky on the right. I'm pleased with the clouds in this picture - although you would never quite see them in a real sky, perhaps that is why I like them.


These are the waves on the right of the picture, and perhaps my favourite piece of this painting, the piece I like the best. I love the depth and turmoil in those waves. I think I've caught the mist of the spray nicely, and the swell of the wash ripples in the foreground work well.

If this tiny portion were the whole picture, I'd be happy.

Perhaps I'll cut it out and re-frame it. What do you think?