A good source of reference material is photographs sent to me by family members. The photograph for this painting was sent to me by my daughter and it was perfect for a bird’s eye view painting.

I like the dynamic lines of the horizon, the water’s edge and also those of the roadway. Put those diagonals together with lateral lines of the buildings, the trees, the lampposts and all the other paraphernalia associated with a by the sea holiday and you have a very good basis for a composition.

I draw in the dynamic lines first and the trees, which are a useful element of this painting to lead the eye of the viewer through the painting and back again. I drew in all the major shapes and then painted in the sky, pale blue, pale red, really pale. I then used glazes to paint in the water.

I used a gamboge yellow to under paint all the parts of the trees and some of the beach. I then mixed three different shades of  green (I always like to mix my greens as I find out of the tube paints too unnatural) and painted in the trees and the grass. I used a chromatic black with a brown bias for the tree trunks.

I used a pink I mixed up with flesh tint and red for the pink parts of the building. I used a purple for the roadway and a dark purple for the shadows.

I used small brushstrokes to suggest people in the water, the parasols, chairs and lights as you do not want to make these elements too distinct in such a busy scene, they quickly will become too important and may detract from your focal point/s.