In this painting I used a photograph from a recent trip to Northumberland and the Farne Islands as inspiration. We went on a sunset cruise around the Farne Islands to see the local wildlife particularly seals, puffins, arctic terns, shags, gannets and other sea-birds.

We managed to capture some lovely sunset photographs which provide great reflections, light and shadows.

I completed this painting in acrylics using the post impressionist, fauvist style I have been interested in, in recent months. I tried to differentiate the sky from the sea by changing the direction of the brush strokes. As with a lot of my paintings I used a restricted palette of a few paints from which to mix all my colours, namely alizarin crimson, prussian blue, titanium white and cadmium yellow hue. I like the way prussian blue and alizarin crimson mix to make deep purples for the shadows.

As with a lot of my paintings I tend to reduce the objects to simple shapes and forms and don’t focus in on small details like windows. I try to capture a feeling with my colour choices rather than a direct copy of life. In this painting I wanted to capture the dramatic effect of the sunset against the dark clouds and sea.