Painting trip to the coast

Last week I spent three days painting watercolors at La Push, a small Indian reservation town on the west coast of Washington. The scenery at La Push is awesome: big sea stacks rising out of the ocean, huge waves rolling in to the beach, a working harbor and a picturesque fishing village. I camped at nearby Mora Campground.

The first afternoon I arrived in La Push and saw a fishing boat unloading tubs of fish at the fish dock, so I set up my easel right away. James Island looms over the entrance to the harbor and makes a great backdrop for paintings. Like many of my plein air paintings, the values were off. Some parts are too light (the island); some parts are too dark (the dock). I plan to paint this again in the studio where I have more control over the values.

The next morning was cloudy and blustery with a little drizzle. I packed up my gear and hiked the trail to Second Beach. It’s about .7 miles and a stiff climb with all my gear, but the vista was well worth it. A pristine secluded beach with huge rocks jutting out of the ocean and waves rolling in from the Pacific Ocean. I was pretty happy with the top part of the painting, but the bottom is pretty clumsy. I decided to practice painting waves and beach sand when I got home.

In the afternoon I drove to Mora Campground and set up my tent. Rialto Beach is nearby, so I made a painting as the sun was going down. There were crowds of people walking the beach and enjoying the crashing waves and evening sun.

On the third day I painted the La Push harbor again, this time with several of the boats at their moorings. It’s a great scene but a real challenge to capture with watercolors. All in all, I was pretty happy with my paintings this trip, considering they were painted outdoors in an unfamiliar environment. Plein air painting is hard! I hope to re-paint these scenes in the studio and produce a more finished product.