Idea for a new Sanur Beach seascape

Sanur Beach Seascape

This is my backyard!! I love living beside the beach in Sanur. No two days are the same and I never get tired of looking out at the ocean. The sky and sea are constantly changing, and there is always something that catches my eye and makes me think, I want to paint that! Sanur is also known as 'Morning of the World' and has the most spectacular sunrises. They are worth getting up super early for!

As an artist, I’m constantly looking at the colours, light and shapes around me and thinking about how I could turn them into a painting. Living right beside Sanur Beach makes it pretty easy to find inspiration. At the moment, I have an idea for a new Sanur Beach seascape and I think it could make a really interesting painting.

One of the things that makes this view so appealing is the incredible Bali light. It can be incredibly bright during the day, with intense blues in the sky and ocean, but as the sun starts to set, everything changes. The colours become warmer and the sky can be filled with beautiful shades of pink, orange, purple and gold.

I never know quite what I’m going to get, which is part of the fun.

The cloud formations are constantly changing too from low level clouds that look like candy floss skimming the horizon at sunset to huge tropical monsoon clouds in the rainy season. They can completely change the feeling of the scene and make an otherwise familiar view look completely different.

Painting the traditional jukung boats

And then there are the fishing boats! The little boats you can see in the photograph are traditional Balinese jukung boats. They are such a familiar sight around Sanur and I love including them when I’m sketching the coastline and ocean.

I’ve actually spent quite a lot of time getting to know these boats from a slightly different perspective — from my stand-up paddle board!

I often take my sketchbook out onto the ocean with me and paddle around Sanur, stopping to sketch when I find something that catches my eye. It’s a fantastic way to see the coastline from the water and, of course, you get a completely different perspective from standing on the beach.

It’s also rather lovely to be out on the water with nothing but my sketchbook, paddle board and the sea around me. I can get close to the jukung boats and sketch them as they sit on the water, with the coastline and changing sky behind them.

I'm not sure there are many artists who can claim their studio is a stand-up paddle board!

Turning my sketch into a seascape painting

For this particular view, I think I will try working in soft pastels first. I find pastels really useful for working out a composition and experimenting with colour before committing to a larger painting.

I want to see how the different blues of the sea and sky work together, and how the warmer colours of the setting sun can be introduced without taking over the whole painting.

The jukung boats will also be important. They are relatively small against the expanse of ocean and sky, but they give the scene a sense of scale and bring a lovely sense of Bali to the composition.

Once I’m happy with the pastel study, I may develop the idea further as an oil painting on canvas. I particularly enjoy working in oils because I can build up layers of colour and really explore the changes in light and atmosphere.

For me, the challenge with a seascape like this isn't necessarily to paint every detail. I want to capture the feeling of being there — the heat, the light, the colour and that wonderful sense of space you get when you're sitting out on the water looking back towards the beach.

Inspiration right on my doorstep

I feel very lucky to have this on my doorstep. Living in Sanur means I can step outside and be surrounded by inspiration, whether I'm looking for a subject for a painting or simply taking my sketchbook out for a paddle.

There are always new things to notice — the changing sky, reflections on the water, the boats, the coastline and, of course, those incredible tropical sunsets.

So, I think this Sanur Beach view is definitely going to become a painting.

First, I’ll get my pastels out and see what happens!

Watch this space...