I have just completed a new oil painting and I had a lot of fun painting this one. As you can see in the image  below this painting has strong color. Beach dunes can be tricky to paint. There can be strong sunlight on the light colored sand and water and this produces dark shadows. When I was deciding on the values for this oil painting I knew that I wanted to pump up the color in the shadow areas of the beach dune. I used blues and violets for the dark areas in the dune and the clouds. I added the beach dune grass using greens, yellows and reds. The footprints in the sand leading down to the ocean were probably the most difficult area for me to paint. But I really wanted the path to the beach to have footprints like so many beach paths do.

colorful painting of a beach dune path to the ocean

Early Stages of “Beach Dune Shadows”

Below is the painting after I had initially covered the canvas and started painting in some of the details. As you can see I made changes to the clouds after I viewed them for a while. I’m happier with the shape of the clouds in the finished painting.

early stages of beach dune oil painting

The canvas size in this painting is 21″ x 26″ and includes a nice gold wood frame that complements the yellow and orange colors in the painting. Leave a comment below to let me know what you think of this latest original oil painting of a beach dune. Thanks