First, many thanks to Ollie and Edo for establishing and managing this forum! I'm also a relatively new painter who just discovered this site and am excited to participate in it. I appreciate Ollie's and Edo's approaches to both painting and teaching, and am impressed by the work that other artists are posting here!

Last week I loaded my watercolor kit (too much stuff, actually) onto my bike and rode the ferry to Block Island, a small island in the Atlantic, located a few miles off the coast where I live, in Rhode Island, USA (despite its name, Rhode Island is a state on the mainland). I painted this watercolor of Mohegan Bluffs, which are large sand cliffs, about 50 meters high, that were deposited by the receding glaciers at the end of the last ice age, and have been weathered by ocean and wind since then. Hurricane Fiona was offshore and the surf was quite large. It was a gorgeous day and I had a most enjoyable time, but I found it difficult to capture the true majesty and scale of the cliffs. Here is my painting, on an eighth sheet of Fabriano paper, along with a photo and my preparatory sketches.

Now that the weather is turning cold and the days are getting short here in New England, I'll be doing more painting inside, and I'm sure I'll revisit this scene, along with other photo references. I'd appreciate any comments or criticisms that you have, to incorporate in future paintings, and to improve my work generally. Thank you!