Alexey Alpatov

Alexey Alpatov was born in Moscow in 1968. His paintings mimic the techniques of black and white photography - cropping, the capturing of effects of light and reflectivity, limited depth of field - but they are not photorealistic; they are as much about paint, texture and brushwork as they are about an image.

These are large mixed media works, which sometimes include collage.

See more of his work here.

Day 11. 200 x 220 cm

Hobie Porter

Australian artist, Hobie Porter, superimposes images of manufactured objects onto his seascapes, provoking the viewer to reflect on humanity's effect on the natural world. These large canvases are executed in meticulous detail.

www.hobieporter.com

Peter Rostovsky

Joel Rea

Joel is an Australian artist who lives on the Gold Coast of Queensland; a region famous for its surf beaches.

Though it had very little physical effect here, The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami made a big impact on the collective psyche of the predominantly coastal-dwelling people of Australia. Our nearest neighbour, Indonesia, was devastated, with the loss of an estimated 167, 000 lives.

www.joelrea.com.au

June Carey

June Carey is an American land and seascape painter and wife of the late maritime artist David Thimgan (see below).

These compositions work so well because, if you divide the image in half vertically or horizontally, each half contains a balance of the two main elements - rock and water.

june carey arts

Louise Britton

Louise Britton is an artist living in Seattle, Washington. She spends part of each year on Edisto Island, South Carolina, in a small cabin on land that has been in her family for generations. Her work has a dreamlike quality, though traditionally rendered in meticulously realist technique.
These fine works remind me a little of Magritte, though they are not overtly surrealist.

www.louisebritton.com

"Paint it Big"

Martine Emdur, Sea Weave V



This close up view of seaweed swirling in the tide, by the Australian artist, Martine Emdur, is intimate but painted on a huge scale: 168 x 183 cm.

Sometimes the only way to make people stop and look at the beauty you wish to convey to the world, is to blow an image up to wall size.

This was the conclusion that Georgia O'Keefe came to about painting flowers:

“So I said to myself – I’ll paint what I see - what the flower is to me but I’ll paint it big and they will be surprised into taking the time to look at it - I will make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what I see of flowers.”

Other artists have said that there is a right scale for every painting.

A tiny painting can also captivate the viewer if it possesses a gem-like beauty.

Painting on Silver

This square painting by the American artist Katherine B Young, is one of a series painted on silver leaf. I imagine this would give a wonderful reflective quality for waterscapes. The oil paint layer would have to be transparent enough to reveal the silver underneath, requiring the use of a glazing medium. This is a largish piece (36 x 36 inches).

Point Lobos Surf, 24 x 30 inches
Artist's website

Monochrome

Jennifer Day,
oil on panel,
36 x 48 inches

Monochrome studies allow you to concentrate on tone and detail without the distraction of colour. An old master oil paining technique is to start with a monochrome underpainting and then (after waiting for it to dry) add glazes of colour. It requires patience, but gives the painting depth, purity and richness. A monochrome underpainting need not be black and white or grey scale. Warm, earth tones were the most used for underpainting by the old masters, although cooler hues, would be better for watery subjects. It's advisable to use a pigment that dries relatively quickly.
The artist has chosen to use panel for the support. A smooth support can be more suitable than canvas for the subtle detail in the clouds and waves (unless working on a very large scale).

Chris Langlois - Australian

Ocean (Bilgola Head), 137 x 137cm

Neil Taylor - Australian

The Other End of the Beach, Acrylic

The subtle blending required for the smooth tonal gradation in the sand is easier to achieve in oils than in fast-drying acrylics, but mediums are availble to extend the drying time.

Lisa Adams - Australian

Sea Study, 41 x 68 cm

Drift, 33 x 61 cm

Lisa is not specifically a marine artist; she does meticulous, enigmatic, slightly surreal landscapes.
She is represented by philip bacon galleries , Brisbane, Australia.

Norman Ackroyd - British

Great Blasket, Etching, 20 x 19 cm


Aran

Study of Sun and Rain, Skellig Rock

These are etchings, not oil paintings, but they are a good example of the importance of abstract, poetic qualities, and mood, in seascape painting, rather than mere literal representation. The Judd Waugh oil painting on the side bar to the right, also shows that a limited palette, almost monochrome, can make a very strong image.

Rick Amor - Australian 1948-

Seascape

Fire Across the Bay

It's an interesting idea to complement the water element with fire.

Journey, 2007, 116 x 130 cm

Journey is now on display in the Art Gallery of New South Wales. A photo doesn't give much indication of what it's like standing in front of this large, highly glazed painting. It reminded me of old European paintings that have darkened with age and become deep, mysterious and like the twilight world of dreams.

Amy Marx - American

Impending, oil on Paper, 40 x 59.5 inches (image copyright Amy Marx)

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Colours used: Cerulean blue and a light green glazed over Prussian blue.

Prussian blue is that very intense dark blue in the distance.

Some sort of buff colour for the sand visible through the water at the bottom of the painting.

The sea generally gets darker in colour as it deepens away from the shore, changing from emerald greens (and even sometimes warm yellows where the sandy seafloor is visible) to dark blues. But its important to remember that the sea surface also reflects the sky colour, which could be grey, ultramarine blue or even pink.

To see more of Amy's beautiful work:

http://www.amymarx.com/

Bella Easton

Icecream Kiosk

MaryBeth Thielhelm - American

Ebony Sea, oil on panel 60 x 120 inches

Ralph Feyl - American, contemporary

12 x 16 inches


Gullrock, 8 x 10 inches


Late Afternoon Light, 20 x 24 inches

Scott Waddell

The Hunt

Jacob Collins USA 1964 -

Contemporary, Oil 9x 12 inches

Jacob Collins is part of an art movement in the United States known as Classical Realism. These artists are reviving the techniques and aesthetics of the Old Masters.