Sunlight on Mud, Brancaster Staithe

Oil on Board, 10x14 ins 
(click on image to enlarge)

Here's the first painting I'm submitting for the Royal Society of Marine Artists (RSMA) annual exhibition at The Mall Galleries in London.
 

This is absolutely the sort of subject that gets my creative juices flowing.  Looking directly in to the sun throws all objects into silhouette, with highlighted edges that catch the light.  When you look at these dazzling highlights, like on the car roof and bonnet and the rims of the two foreground boats, the space around them is diffused and that is the trick to make these edges look convincing.  Obviously, only a genius like me can possibly capture such effects.......

Also, looking into the sun, you would imagine the sky to be the brightest and lightest part of the composition, and indeed the actual sun itself would be, but having cunningly placed the horizon high up on the board, the reflected sunlight on the mud is the lightest passage of the painting, so the sky has to be painted a tone darker, reserving pure Titanium White for the blindingly bright mud. 

The background buildings and trees are close-toned greys and purples and difficult to get right.  This makes for an absorbingly tricky and concentrated period of painting that only modern-day painting giants can pull off....cough.