There’s something uniquely challenging about coastal landscapes—the interplay between solid landforms and flowing water creates a dynamic that demands careful consideration. In this post, I’ll walk you through my recent painting of Matapori Bay, a 7x14 inch work that represents another stepping stone in my journey toward mastering coastal scenes.

Working with Headlands

Matapori Bay is a beautiful location not far from where I live, known for its great diving spots and beautiful beaches. The main landscape feature—what we call “the heads” here in New Zealand—presents a particular challenge for painters.

Headlands are essentially wedge shapes, which can be somewhat stationary or stagnant compositionally. The diagonal element, as I mentioned in my previous video, is quite evident here, though it’s been softened by the step-down arrangement of the trees.

In this composition, I was fortunate to have a mass on the right side (I believe it’s an island) that creates a perfect balancing point. Additionally, the dark mass of rocks in the middle foreground provides another nice counterweight. These elements help counteract the potential stagnancy of the wedge-shaped headland.

Managing Foliage

One significant challenge when painting this type of coastal scene is handling the foliage on the headland. When you don’t have a lot of distinct trees, there’s a temptation to “get in the weeds” by working out individual trees—but that approach doesn’t align well with the expressive, immediate style of oil painting I prefer.

I’m much more interested in giving you the impression of foliage rather than rendering individual trees. This impressionistic approach maintains the sense of mass while allowing for a more fluid, expressive handling of paint.

Finding the Sky

The sky in this painting ended up being softer than I might have initially wanted—I might have preferred a bit more “chatter” and movement in the brushwork. However, every painting develops its own character as you work, and you have to respond to what the painting “wants to be.”

While you do have some latitude to adjust elements, you don’t have as much freedom as you might think to fundamentally change the painting’s direction once you’re underway. The alternative would be to put the painting back on the easel when dry and do another color pass—something I used to do frequently but now avoid.

For this piece, I painted the sky one day, let it dry, and then came back to do the landforms and water the next day. This approach worked well both for the painting itself and for recording the process, as the sky colors don’t shift too much when they dry.

Mastering Water

I’m particularly pleased with how I captured the water in this painting. Getting the shift from aqua in the distance to warmer, orangey tones as the water comes closer to shore is something I’ve been working toward for some time. One of the biggest challenges was handling that dark edge between the wet sand and the waves. It can’t be too sharp, but you can’t just smear it either. It also can’t be too consistent in thickness—it needs to vary naturally. While I’ve painted many seascapes that sold well, this is perhaps the first painting where I felt I truly mastered this particular element. The rolling waves also came together nicely, showing the light of the sand coming up through them. I’m especially happy with how I captured that sense of foamy water rolling in and that one long wave approaching the shore.

Lighting Adjustments

The reference photo for this scene had what appeared to be noon-type lighting, which wasn’t creating attractive shadows in certain areas. To improve the composition, I subtly shifted the lighting to come from the upper right-hand side, which allowed me to place shadows more effectively. This kind of adjustment comes with experience—knowing when to depart from your reference to create a more compelling painting. The shifted lighting also worked better with the dawn colors in the sky, creating a more congruent overall scene. (If you’re interested in seeing my reference image, it’s available in the members area as part of the full five-hour painting session in 4K.)

Finishing Touches

My painting process involves working each section to near completion before moving on. Rather than blocking in the entire painting and then adding additional features, I try to get each area as good as possible during each stage with later small additions. For the white water and waves, which I typically add last, I used a technique of placing wet paint on top of wet paint. The key to making this work is using oil—if the paint is too thick, you’ll just scrape the paint below as you try to paint on top. A helpful tip: after applying wet paint on top of wet paint, give it a little pat with a paper towel to help push it in. also, occasionally, I’ll take a clean brush and knock some of the tops of the edges off what I’ve painted. There are many techniques you can use to achieve similar results—picking at it with a palette knife or going over with your blackened brush can work well too.

Reflections

This painting represents significant progress in my journey to master coastal scenes. I had been considering putting together a book specifically on coastal painting, but honestly, I didn’t feel I had enough mastery yet. Now, with paintings like this one, I’m getting closer to that level of confidence. For those interested in exploring my approach to Tonalist painting in depth, my book captures my 10-12 year journey of studying the masters and developing techniques that convey that atmospheric, emotive quality. It’s available for $60 US with international shipping included to anywhere on the planet. If you’re interested in seeing more of my process, consider joining the members area where you can watch the full painting sessions, including the struggles and solutions that don’t always make it into the edited videos.

Until next time, take good care of yourself, stay out of trouble!

Cheers,

Mike

Matapori Bay 7x14