Using a pale was of raw sienna I put in the sand on the beach, leaving the sea shell without color. I then added a tiny amount of burnt sienna to darken the sand colour in the foreground and with a little more burnt sienna added to the mixture painted in the wet sand at the edge of the water.
Now it was time to tackle the water, painting it in with the reflected colours from the sky.
I started at the edge of the shore using new gamboge and a touch of raw sienna, I put in the first section of the waves leaving some areas of pure white against the wet sand.
Next I added a touch of alizarin crimson to the new gamboge for a pale orange and put in the next section of waves from the horizon line on the left side and down to the yellow waves.
To complete the water I used almost pure alizarin crimson from the orange waves to the horizon line.
With French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I made a dark grey for the distant land on the horizon line between the sky and the water.
I put in the seaweed that washed up onto the beach with a green of French ultramarine blue and raw sienna.
Lastly I painted the seashell in with pale shades of alizarin crimson and the shadows were in pale burnt sienna.
If you would like more information about ACEO please go to my post on 11 March 2010.
The ACEO shown here is an original watercolour painting using Artist quality Winsor & Newton paint on 140lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $20.00 and sold unframed.
