The challenge for 52Frames this week is “Rule of Thirds”. This works well for art and, historically, has been used by many artists. As the creator I have the ability to manipulate an image and place objects where I think they will work best. I wondered about doing a still life, but these projects are meant to push me a little. My reference is a photo I took at East Wittering a few years ago looking into the sun, and I liked the idea of combining the rule of thirds with trying to get the sunlight on the sea.

The plan was to use acrylics but I changed to watercolour. I wanted to try out methods to resist paint and create texture. Yet again the scale and paper was not ideal. I used wax resist for the sea which worked pretty well and cling film to create some texture on the sand. I used masking fluid for the main figures, but had real trouble removing it. My suspicion is I rushed the removal before everything was properly dry. Let’s hope by the end of the year I will have learned some patience when using watercolour…

The light on the sea is better than I was expecting and I think the figures worked well in the end. Some areas are a little overworked but watercolour is just difficult!

Water colour with resist and gouache highlights