Poetic sunset for a seascape painting

Sun-kissed sea

As waters deepen into dusk

A glowing sunset spills

a transient path

Stepping stones of light

across the dancing waves.

I'm not the only artist who confesses that coming up with titles can often be more challenging than creating the painting. It always seems a little unreasonable that something that is so clear in your visual mind often eludes translation into words. Perhaps it's because paintings and their creative process are multifaceted. They're layers of emotion, as much as they are layers of paint. Most titles don't capture the complexity of the work.

On a formal level, this painting evolved as an exploration of colour. I wanted to explore a different, warmer palette. I thought coming up with a title was going to be elusive. "Sun-kissed sea" presented itself more readily than I'd anticipated. And then, caught me by surprise, by extending itself into a little poem.The poem isn't remarkable by literary standards. But I'm sharing it nonetheless because it's rare that I find words to match a painting. 

On another level, the creative process fused memories and feelings. A year in which I've been appreciating magnificent Yorkshire skies, sharing sunsets and cloud-gazing. So the hint of romanticism in the title is apt. A little celebration of connection and beauty. 

Square formats can be challenging to paint. The harmony of proportion in the format can also feel rigid or off-balance, if you get the composition wrong. The path of the light across the sea and flooding the sky in this artwork is essential to creating depth and movement. It's a dinky 8 by 8 painting. But the colour does the job, drawing you in across the waves to the horizon and then exploding in joyful, dynamic clouds.

At the time of writing, this sunset seascape painting is available in my Square seascapes collection.