This month, I’ve been painting some smaller seascape paintings of the beautiful views at St Annes-on-sea in Lancashire, on the west coast of England. It’s a wide open, flat sandy beach that stretches towards Blackpool in the North and round the coast towards Lytham to the south.

There are a lovely variety of views throughout the year, as you look out over the sands and out to the Irish Sea. The two new watercolour paintings are recent, spring views of the shoreline, as seen from walks along the beach.

Seascape at St Annes-on-sea and its second version are small watercolours on paper but aim to capture, in a contemporary way, some of the feelings of being out on the sands. You are immersed in nature, facing the wild open sea as cloud forms come and go for miles overhead. Birds twist and turn in the breeze as they fly around the shore.

The first painting is of a sunlit but cloudy spring day and I’ve used a cool palette of different blues to suggest this. I’ve concentrated on the rhythms and patterns over the entire seascape with this painting, expressing the light and movement experienced there.

Seascape at St Annes-on-sea II is of a brighter day and more light. I’ve expressed this mood by using some more saturated colours, with blue-greens and browns. I’ve also shown the movement of clouds through some dynamic brushwork.

The two new seascape paintings of the Lancashire coast are small but offer a wonderful, contemporary fine art reminder of St Annes-on-sea beach, its wide open spaces, the presence of the sea and the surrounding weather.

The Lancashire coast at St Annes-on-sea is one of my favourite subjects to paint and has offered me countless inspiration for paintings since I’ve been showing my artwork to the public.

Published May 2022