A View of the northern California Coast

I have had a busy week.  Unfortunately I have three family members who are seriously ill so much of this week has been spent addressing issues that have affected them.  I did not have a great deal of time to devote to my art so I took a pastel painting that I was dissatisfied with and reworked it.  My brother, Larry, provided me with a photo that  of the northern California coast and this is the product that I produced.  He and his wife Dina have always been my biggest supporters. Many thanks to them for their continued support and encouragement.  

​This painting is my first attempt at creating a rendering of waves crashing against rocks.  Water and rocks are much more difficult to render than I first imagined.  The scene is reminiscent of the time my husband and I stayed at a Cliffside hotel in Mendocino.  The only thing missing is the early morning and late afternoon fog that frequently rolled in from the ocean. 

​I reworked this painting three times.  One of the hard things for an artist to do is to know when enough is enough.  If you overwork a painting or drawing, you can ruin it.  I had to rework the mountains and the shoreline in the distance three times to achieve the depth I desired. 
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I want to try new scenes with rocks and grasses in the future.  It is important to learn from each painting and try to do better the next time.  For now this is the final product on this scene.

As you can see, the rocks have very hard edges that are consistent with the craggy cliffs of northern California.  I am quite satisfied with the trees in the foreground and I think the grasses turned out pretty well for a first attempt.  My cousin loves the stormy sky in this painting and I think I will frame it and give this one to her.