Seascapes, Surfing — oil painting by Ray Patrick
A woman riding the shoulder of a wave on a longboard, seen from the side, with a flat grey sea and a pale sky behind.
The wave runs as one long diagonal from the lower left to the right edge and the figure stands on its crest at the centre. The upper half of the panel is empty sky and water, which is what gives the figure her isolation.
Cobalt, slate and dove through the sky and distance, with the wave face in viridian and teal. The figure carries a dark top and cadmium yellow shorts — the only hot note in the picture.
The wave is laid in long directional strokes that follow its slope, with the foam dragged along the lip in broken white. The figure is seven or eight loaded touches and no drawing.
Oil on canvas paper with an unpainted margin. Photographed on the studio table.
Lower right, raypatrick, scratched into the wet paint in orange.