Paintings from the Beach

We took a quick trip down to the beach last week. Schools were closed in Mexico because of the flu scare and we wanted to get out of town for a while. The drive down to Playa Buena Vista, in the state of Guerrero, is about 6 hrs. Some friends of ours have a small house there that they let us borrow. I took my paint box and was able to sneak in a little painting time when I was not swimming, relaxing, or keeping an eye on the kids while we were on the beach, ( we took Erin's two cousins with us too ). The beach is isolated and we the only ones there most of the time. Needless to say, we had a great time.
Here is a photo of the beach and below are three paintings. The forth was pretty unworthy of posting. The light changed on me too quickly and I abandoned it.



Playa Buena Vista



"Hammock, Playa Buena Vista", 8" x 10" oil, Frank Gardner © 2009

All of the moisture in the air inspired this view looking down the beach. The hammock under the palapa gives that nice lazy day feel. This one might get turned into a larger painting too. I'd like to have more room to play around with that color. You can only squeeze so much into a small painting.



"Morning Palms", 6" x 8" oil, Frank Gardner © 2009

This is the view looking toward the beach from Anthony and Laura's house. The sun was coming up behind me and it cast a nice light on the palms. I tried to simplify the foliage but at the same time wanted it all to line up in the right spot. A tough one for a 6"x8" panel.



"Evening Mist", 6" x 8" oil, Frank Gardner © 2009

There was a lot of moisture rolling off the beach and I loved the variety of cool colors looking back into the jungle in shadow.
This could make a nice larger painting. I can imagine how it would look if it were bigger and I moved a few things just a bit.