On the Beach

By Barry Hammond

Oil on canvas

20 cm x 20 cm x 4 cm

Price on request

Meaning and visual impact:

This work depicts a beach landscape. The beach front is shown as a broad expanse of sand with some sand dunes in the foreground . The overall feel of the beach is of a generally rough, natural environment devoid of life found on many coasts. The image is most representative of the Red Sea area in Egypt where I have spent a lot of time contemplating the universe. The beach is then met by the ocean some distance away where the horizon is murky. The sky and ocean appear to merge in the distance with turquoise mixing together with dark sea mist on the distant horizon. It is a small painting but really pops with vivid colours and a three dimensional texture in the foreground. The viewer gets a genuine feeling of distance and depth in the painting due to the optical illusion of a sun lit beach and sand dune details in the foreground receding to the horizon some distance away. The painting has a wide solid frame and works well being placed on a mantel or shelf. For a small painting it really has a strong visual impact.

Technical aspects:

This work was painted with fine artist brushes and with layers of oil paint. This was done in a way that the more distant areas in the image are flat and smooth. By contrast, the forward areas in the image are bolder and have more texture. The texture was done with palette knifes and using the impasto technique for paint. Finally, layers of thinned oil glaze medium were used in select areas to be more or less reflective of light.