An Icelandic Seascape -- Study in Orange

Orange Lighthouse at Öndverðarnes, Iceland, 8x10, oil on canvas, 2015

This lighthouse stands at the westernmost edge of Snaefellsnes Peninsula, at the end of a tiny gravel track across an ancient lava flow. The Svortuloft bird cliffs are just below it. It's a great place for whale watching.


I learned a lot about mixing oranges, and the light of the never-setting Icelandic sun. I painted and re-painted the lighthouse until I got those rich hues I was chasing. I used a very limited palette for the piece: cad red, cad yellow, yellow ochre, ultramarine blue, titanium white, ivory black. The underpainting is done in burnt umber.


Sitting down to paint this one felt like a short vacation. Even now I can hear the waves crashing, and the birds shrieking. I can feel the fierce wind on my face. Maybe you can, too?


SOLD.