#beach

May 31, 2019
2 min

Pastel Painting: Ruby Beach - Olympic Peninsula

On the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, you can find Ruby Beach, situated on the Pacific Ocean. The curiosity of this location is the mass of fallen trees that have begun to weather as giant pieces of driftwood in the gravely sand. These huge horizontal slabs of driftwood contrast with outcrops of sea stacks, amounting to a surrealistic landscape. Below is a 12x16 pastel painting inspired by a trip to the Olympic Peninsula in March 2019. I chose a limited palette, basically r

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Pastel Painting: "Rock Rumba on Glass Beach"

Bob Palmerton

Apr 30, 2019
1 min

Pastel Painting: "Rock Rumba on Glass Beach"

Glass Beach is on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. And there are plenty of rocks to stumble over as one searches for sea glass. This 21x13 pastel painting was inspired by my visit to the Pacific Northwest in March, 2019. The pastel is the subject of my recent blog entitled "Planning the Next Painting." Here is the link to the blog post on creating this cumbersome piece! In this blog I discuss creating the pastel using composition based on rock patterns and lighting. #

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Bob Palmerton

Mar 20, 2019
2 min

StudioSense: Creating a Tiny Pastel

I've been experimenting lately with small format pastels. Creating a small painting can provide a good introduction to a larger version of the piece, or simply offer the pastelist the opportunity to experiment with a variety of techniques without using a large sheet of paper. "Beachcombing," is a 4x6 pastel on Uart 400 grade sanded paper. The painting was inspired by searching for sea glass at Glass Beach on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. Two techniques were used in

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Pastel Painting: Ocean Kayak, Breezy Point

Bob Palmerton

Aug 31, 2018
1 min

Pastel Painting: Ocean Kayak, Breezy Point

Strolling along at Breezy Point on the bay, I came across this kayak awaiting its next journey in Jamaica Bay at Breezy Point, NY. To create this painting, I decided to apply a watercolor underpainting of the OPPOSITE colors that you see here. Deploying such an approach helps the true colors to "pop." Here is the initial sketch of this scene, with the watercolor underpainting below. The purpose of the sketch is to confirm the composition, and depict and note the values. Her

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Bob Palmerton

Aug 23, 2018
1 min

Pastel Painting: Driftwood

This compelling piece of driftwood lay on the beach at Lake Erie, at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. This natural habitat is well worth the visit, located of Route 2 in Northwest Ohio. Soft pastel on Uart sanded paper, 10x13. For purchase information, click here. #OttawaNationalWildlifeRefuge #Beach #LakeErie

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Watercolor Painting: At The Breezy Point Beach

Bob Palmerton

Aug 10, 2018
1 min

Watercolor Painting: At The Breezy Point Beach

It was a great day at the beach at Breezy Point, NY. This is a simple watercolor applied to a sketch done by a Sharpie. More Breezy Point paintings to come! #BreezyPoint #beach

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StudioSense: Stepping through the Jetty Painting

Bob Palmerton

Jun 24, 2018
2 min

StudioSense: Stepping through the Jetty Painting

Hopefully soon I will do a time lapse video of a painting from start to finish. Since I haven't yet tackled that technology, I thought I would show various photos of my latest Breezy Point Jetty painting in several stages of completion. So here it goes: Here is the reference photo: Here is the initial sketch and value notes. The darkest values are the lower numbers (4-5 denotes the values of the jetty rocks). Rough application of pastel, prior to diluting with alcohol and a

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Pastel Painting: Breezy Point Lighthouse

Bob Palmerton

Jun 18, 2018
1 min

Pastel Painting: Breezy Point Lighthouse

On the bay (again) at Breezy Point. Time to go to the Atlantic side next for more scenes of the Breezy Point community! Click here for our gallery of Breezy Point Paintings! #BreezyPoint #beach

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Bob Palmerton

Jun 13, 2018
2 min

StudioSense: Preparing a New Painting

Working on my Breezy Point series early this morning. Here is the reference photo, which depicts the Breezy Point lighthouse on the bay side of this beach community in New York. Here is the initial sketch. Notice that I grid the paper into thirds and placed the key portions of the scene in strategic spots related to the "thirds" rule (just to avoid placing key objects such as the horizon at the half-way point on the paper. I also cropped the scene a bit, reducing the expa

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Bob Palmerton

Mar 13, 2018
2 min

StudioSense: A New Look and Feel

During summer vacation at the beach in August, 2017, I whipped up several pastel paintings of Breezy Point and its beach community. This was one of the paintings. On the walk toward the beach from our home at Marion Walk, I came across this dunes scene. It was midday and the sun shed brilliant light on the greens and tans of the landscape. The painting has sat in my collection for almost 8 months now, so I thought perhaps it is time to refresh it. I maintain a collection o

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Pastel Painting: Bay Boats at Breezy Point

Bob Palmerton

Jan 7, 2018
1 min

Pastel Painting: Bay Boats at Breezy Point

What better time is there to celebrate memories of summer when the temperature is below zero in Michigan? Here is the final rendition of "Bay Boats at Breezy Point." Inspired by the bayside (while avoiding those nasty biting black flies on the ocean side) at Breezy Point, NY. Had a great time with family and the Palaski's! #BreezyPoint #seascape #Beach

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Bob Palmerton

Nov 18, 2017
1 min

Oil Painting: Point Pelee Storm

In early September, upon arriving at Point Pelee National Park in Leamington, Ontario, a dark sky and brisk winds off Lake Erie greeted me upon arrival. Lake Erie portrayed an "eerie" green hue, broken up by fierce white caps. Representing my recent foray into oil painting, Point Pelee Storm captures the brisk wind and rough seas in this lovely park in southern Ontario. #PointPeleeNationalPark #seascape #Beach

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Pastel Painting: On the Bay at Breezy Point

Bob Palmerton

Aug 16, 2017
1 min

Pastel Painting: On the Bay at Breezy Point

Although today's weather will be sunny an 90, it has been a bit cloudy (and rainy) at Breezy Point. This scene is on the bay side, capturing some of the stormy clouds amidst the lighthouse and shell-laden dunes. Soft pastel on Uart sanded paper, 9x12. #seascape #Beach #BreezyPoint

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Bob Palmerton

Jul 21, 2017
1 min

Life's a Beach! Plein Air at its best!

In August I will be at Breezy Point, New York, painting new "beach-scapes!" Here is a painting I did back in 2008 of the jetty and lighthouse at Breezy Point: Breezy Point is located at the Western tip of Long Island (technically it is part of Queens). I will be there from 8/12-8/18. Painting sessions will be held in the early morning (7-11 am) to beat the heat, and we will be capturing the beach community both on the bay side and the ocean sides of Breezy Point. Contact m

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