Before the People

The early morning light is always the best. There were almost no people on the Southampton Beach so the gulls kept me company while I painted.  I wanted to get the colours right and had to revert to phthalo blue to do so. The literature says “Phthalo Blue: Warm blue first made for printmaking ink (cyan) to replace Prussian Blue in the 1920's. With clean, pure masstone and transparency, Phthalo Blue, like all modern colors, has high tinting strength.” Some artist call it a “stain” but I needed it today. There is always something to learn!

The ridge of high pressure was still dominating the weather but there was a hint of cloud on the western horizon emerging through the pollution contained within the marine inversion. Medium burnt sienna oil tinted 8x10