Tucked away in the far corner of the Mediterranean Sea, Cyprus is a small arid island populated with spas and restaurants. Cilei and I checked it out on google maps and saw that french fries were very popular. Some regions are affected by tourism, their local cuisine gets pushed out for more conventional fare. The island is sun-baked with sparse trees and yellowish clay surrounded by brilliant turquoise water. It was tempting to paint a scene of the shore line, but what caught my attention were the abundant sea caves. Due to erosion, Cyprus is riddled with submerged caverns that make for good scuba diving.
This is the second under-water painting I've done in the series, the first one was Antigua and Barbuda, which featured a lot of creatures. In this painting, a prominent sea cave frames the sunlight beaming through the water while a lone fish swims by. To achieve the necessary contrasts I used a combination of bone black (PBk9) with indo blue (PB60) and phthalo green (PG7). Hints of brown and yellow provide some highlights. To get the turquoise at the top of the water I combined cobalt blue (PB28) with phthalo green (PG7). The sunbeam effect was done by lifting the paint with a moist brush.
World Inspired Landscapes: Cyprus, watercolour 5 x 7" hot press, February 2022 (No. 3069)
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