Behind the Scenes of a Welsh Coastal Landscape
With Tuag Adref (Homewards), the aim was to capture that quiet, emotional pull of traveling back toward familiar ground as dusk begins to settle over the estuary. Here is a look behind the easel at how this piece developed stage by stage.
Stage 1: Blocking In and Establishing Tone
I started this piece by locking down the basic structure of the scene. Using deep, muted violets, dark earth tones, and heavy gestural marks, the horizon line, distant headland, and shoreline masses are established. This initial underpainting establishes the dark tonal key for the entire composition, giving the light something dramatic to react against in subsequent layers.
Stage 2: Layering Light and Atmospheric Texture
With the structure anchored, I then started developing the atmosphere and light. Sweeping pale whites, soft violets, and cool gray pigments across the sky and central water body creates the feeling of luminosity. By working up layers—scraping back paint and dragging subtle glazes across the middle ground—the surface begins to capture the shifting, mirrored reflections of the water.
Stage 3: Re-Anchoring Contrast and Foreground Structure
Light only shines as brightly as the darks surrounding it. In this phase, strong contrasts are reintroduced by deepening the shadowed mass of trees along the left side and defining the silhouette of the marshy shore. These bold, dark passages anchor the viewer’s gaze and establish a clear progression of depth from the immediate foreground to the distant hills.
Stage 4: Fine Details and the Final Narrative
The final stage brings the narrative of the piece into focus. Fine ink linework and dry-brush strokes bring definition to the wild, wind-bent reeds along the shoreline. Soft glazes of dusky pink and rose are laid over the foreground, and birds taking flight across the water bring motion to the quiet evening—completing the journey of Tuag Adref.
Watch the reel below to see the layers transform from raw block-in to the finished painting.
