Sunset at Sennen Cove. oil on canvas

Sunset at Sennen Cove, oil on deep sided canvas, 12 ins square

I did a series of sunsets in watercolour and oil of the sunsets and it really brought out how cameras distort the colours of sunsets and aren't really at all helpful.  The silhouetted rocks and breakwater lose all colour as well. They make beautiful pictures in their own right - but they aren't the reality of the experience at all.

In the photographs, there is far more red (which there wasn't in reality) and the sun is white.   In fact, the sun was blazing red and the skies were a range of softer reds and peaches and sometimes soft yellows.   So the canvasses were done quickly while the memory of the colours was still fresh.   There were vivid pale blue ripples against the darker shadows and subtle reflections of the reds in the water.  Those electric ripples were beautiful and just didn't show properly on photos.

 These are 2 examples - the actual sunset looked like the painting, with lots of colour variation, not grey and not black and red.  The amount of the reef - Cowloe - that shows, varies with the tide.

I did a series of them on these 12 inch canvasses:

 

Sunsets X3 on 12 inch canvas

Please ignore the plastic carrier bags they are standing on to dry!  The centre one is looking more to the left, with Cape Cornwall and the Brisons on the horizon, just a few miles walk along the cliff path.  The other 2 show the edge of the breakwater to the small harbour.  When the wind is high, the waves crash over it, as I've previously shown.

 

These are 15 inch paintings done on a previous visit. The sea was wonderful and I sat trying to catch the patterns of the waves as they rolled in.  Cowloe could hardly be seen for the huge waves and spray.

To see more paintings of the area, from previous trips, go here.

And for information on the Cove click here.