Kathleen Elsey Santa Barbara Beach painting,
Two Years in the Making
”Beach Cake” 16” x 20” Sold
It took two years to make this painting with the addition of cupcakes and chocolate many-layer cake, now known as
"Beach Cake.” I began this painting in the Kathleen Elsey Painting Workshop in April 2011 and called it "Breakfast at the Beach." I wanted to capture the beautiful view from our painting workshop studio. In this beach front painting studio workshop we painted several interior scenes, such as this table full of many objects. It started as my demonstration painting, as a "Beach Breakfast" table with coffee, flowers and empty plates on a sunny beach day. It was two and a half years before I pulled the unfinished painting out of my closet to work on it again. Suddenly, I was excited to make it full of cake. I don‘t know why. Finally, the painting came alive.
Below is my demonstration from the painting workshop. First I sketch and plan the composition that I would like to paint. What are the important elements I want in the painting? This is where I do some visual editing. I wanted the ocean and sailboats, but I left out hundreds of modern boats in the harbor, the street and the cars. I wanted to be sure to capture the sunlight as it streamed across the table casting dark shadows on the table cloth. Then I start painting, roughing the composition onto the canvas either with lines of paint or shapes. I stand back to take a long look very often while painting.
 Sometimes I don't know exactly what I am searching for when I paint, but I always know when I have found it. I hope you will join me some day for a Kathleen Elsey Painting Workshop.
You might also like this interior scape painting, painted on my favorite porch in Sonoma, California, "The Porch, Sunday Morning." I have painted the screened in porch just about every time I visit my old stomping grounds on Sonoma Mountain. |
