Watercolour as a medium brings a lightness to the painting of sailing ships and dinghies, resonating with a light summer breeze in fluttering sails. These simple watery sketches play with bellowing sails, tumbling clouds and the sunlight dancing on water.

Dinghy racing

Watercolour/ink on paper. 21(h) x 21(w) cm

 

Quick and stylised, this simple ink and wash drawing seeks to capture the colourful, breezy bubbling nature of fast dingy racing. 

The vertical mast of the main subject and horizon divide the image with one large square (top right) and a smaller one (bottom left). The curve of the main spinnaker sail leads the eye anti-clockwise around the image and the sinuous waves soften the blow as the eye's travel comes back down. The varying scales of sails suggests depth. The unusual view looking head-on at an approaching boat generates a tension in the viewer.

I want to explore the sea and its relationship with the sky. Turner will be a massive influence I suspect. It's part of my journey and will bring together the skies in my aviation paintings, the drama of the sea and events between the two forces. This path may also lead me into oil paints to be able to mix colour for longer on the canvas before it dries.

Create Your Own Website With Webador