I have begun to go back and rework some of my less successful encaustics into new paintings. With this painting I started with an already heavy dark background and carved out the lighter areas for the ocean waves to streak across the painting. The result is a contrast of solid dark rocks with light foamy water and mist.
The retreating tide carved a deep green pool behind the rocks and surrounded it with intricate patterns in the sand.
12″ x 12″
The lovely tide pool contrasted nicely with the soft waves and morning mist beyond the rocks. This is the second in the “Rock Pool” series. It was done from a reference photo at a slightly different angle which caught Coquille Point and Elephant Rock in the coastal mist on the horizon.
12″ x 12″
The lovely low tide pool contrasted nicely with the soft waves and morning mist beyond the rocks.
20″ x 16″
There is a place on the Coquille River jetty which is perfect for watching the king tide waves roll in. The waves rise like mountains right before they break and crash. I find myself using titanium white more sparingly and using the transparent beeswax/damar resin medium for the lighter areas.
12″ x 12″
This painting is named after a chrysoprase stone which is a translucent light green-aqua-turquoise color similar to this sunlit wave. The winter king tides have been stirring up lots of thick froth to watch, photograph and then try to paint.
16″ x 12″ Mapua Waters 2
Water flowing over rocks is fascinating to watch. I repainted my Mapua Waters to put the focus more on the flowing water and less on the rocks beneath. Below is the first painting.
16″ x 12″ Mapua Waters
16″ x 12″ Watery Slice 2
Moving water is often confusing with the reflections, distortions and transparencies. I reworked this to simplify the wave’s motion to make a more interesting composition. Below is what it looked like when first painted November, 2018.
16″ x 12″ Watery Slice
12″ x 12″
The late afternoon sunlight lit up the waves as they passed by Bandon’s Wizard’s Hat and its big companion rock. I love catching the ocean swells before they break and turn to froth.
Watery Pastels 2, 20″ x 16″
This view is from the cliffs at Coquille Point in Bandon, Oregon, looking down at the beach rocks as the tide comes in to submerge them. The elevated view flattens the waves somewhat and paints the ocean in pastel colors reflected from the layers of mist and clouds.
This encaustic was originally painted in March of 2018. I recently reworked it and took a better photo of it. Below is the previous version.
Watery Pastels, 20″ x 16″
encausticsite 