Let's go paint a kite

Seascapes 52: week 25

There's something joyful about kites. And something joyfully tricky about painting them too. This week, you can enjoy the feeling of flying a kite with four summery seascapes from my collection. 

I've always been more the admirer of the kite, rather than the flyer. I've not tried kite-surfing and I've not had much luck getting them aloft and swooping. Lack of practice. But I do love sitting on the beach and watching them glide and duck and bob up again.

There's currently two versions of this Southbourne Beach scene in my collections. One dinky study in impasto oils that you might've seen before, Plus a bigger, smoother scene in acrylic (that's not been featured on my website but might've been glimpsed at markets and my social media). 

If you think flying them is fun, I can affirm that kites are fun to paint too. The challenge is not letting your left brain tell you that kites have an iconic shape and a continuous string. Because when they're airborne, their shape shifts and the string disappears and reappears in the light. So they're a good observational challenge for an artists. Plus squeezing all those lovely colours into a tiny space ... well you need a steady hand for that.

One of the things I love about the kite in the acrylic version, is the way it accentuates the depth and spaciousness of the composition. It doesn't just provide a colourful but subtle centre of visual interest, it adds to the sense of movement and life in the composition.

There's two more kite paintings in my collection too. These other two are inspired by lovely days at West Wittering. Extra special as this was a between-lockdowns trip to soak up some coastal inspiration. Have a nose through Land & Sea to enjoy these.