“Welcome to our Highland studio and this Masterworks oil painting, ‘Brightwater’, from my ‘Pools of Light Collection’ collection, also available as Limited-Edition Print.

SUBJECT – Even as a child I was fascinated by the sea, a particular joy being exploring rock-pools; that moment when you are trying to look through the surface and catch a fleeting movement of something that darts into weed or buries itself in the sand, perhaps a fish or a crab. Another very strong memory is paddling along the water’s edge, then, looking down at my feet in the warm sand, seeing those patterns of light caused by the tiny wavelets on the surface of the water around my legs.

For some while I had been yearning to do a series of paintings of rock-pools and sea-pools and this was to be one of the first of a new collection.

This painting brings both memories to mind; for it not only features those rivulets of light, caused by the surface of the water - it also contains the mystery of a rock-pool - those with a keen eye will spot tiny fish darting around on the sandy floor, as they swim towards their sanctuary of the weeds.

Eileen and I were visiting Scourie on the West coast of the Highlands of Scotland. As soon as I saw the stone-building I wanted to capture it as a subject. But there were more surprises in store for me, for as we walked along the harbour wall and onto the pier, I was ‘hooked’ by the incoming sea, as it gently lapped at the shore. Looking down at the water below my feet I was instantly transported to my childhood memories of exploring rock-pools – here was a natural aquarium. The perfect foreground, that would allow me to lead the viewer’s eye onward and upward to the stone-building and the landscape beyond. Then, another surprise, something I could add as one of my focal points, a dog came into view on the beach, whose owners were walking along and out of the view.

Watch this FREE-TO-VIEW Masterworks video – https://www.vimeo.com/848451276 - in which we reveal even more of how this painting came to be, how it developed and how it found its natural home in my ‘Pools of Light Collection’

COMPOSITION - Water plays a very important part in my life as an artist, it figures large in my work. I am entranced by how water behaves, its myriad qualities and characteristics; all influenced by the elements of nature. Quite apart from the usual considerations when capturing subjects underwater, such as the fact that everything is foreshortened; the sun was behind me on this occasion. As a result, volume tends to be flattened into blocks of pure colour. Whilst this viewpoint made depth of space more difficult to portray, it was critical if I was to exploit the sun dappling on the sand beneath the waters rippling surface and pick out the shoal of tiny fish that glided through this sea garden of colourful seaweed – the whole purpose of this painting.

As each second passed the surface of the sea changed with every slight breeze that touched it. I therefore composed the scene with a surface pattern of wavelets which radiate towards us, keeping the viewers eye within the confines of the painting. Just look at how the ripples on the surface of the water catch the light, creating an array of different patterns. See how the bright blue of the summer’s afternoon sun is reflected on the surface, in the shadows of the ripples and penetrates through, influencing the colour of the seaweed beneath.

METHOD - these Masterworks oil paintings are created using my unique method, a method based on traditional techniques, which are progressively worked through in layers from dark-to-light; a process that cannot be hurried, nor short-cuts taken. First, the underlying thinned colours of the underpainting, next the impasto stage, with layers-upon-layers of glazes and tints extensively used to enrich and subtly enliven the oil painting – it is through these techniques where the ‘art’ of oil painting comes into its own.

As always, we thank you for reading and watching, with best wishes from Eileen and myself,”

Paul Taggart

Artist : Author : Presenter : Producer