I love the way the flesh tones are repeated in the colors of the sand, and those of the ocean in her eyes. There is a consistency in the brush strokes and style of both fore and backgounds, and the light source and shading is strong. The sun is strong, bleaching out the details of the right side of the face that in the light. The waves are not overdone, which helps to focus attention to the face. The slightly sunburnt features , including the nose and cheeks, are depicted with strong orange hues. The corners of the lips are alizaran crimson, and the nostrils are a mix of alizaran and cad red light, indicating upward reflected light from the sand. This can also be noted at the undersurface of the chin. I avoided black entirely, using a touch of Payne's grey when needed for strong darks, as in the eyeliner. This keeps the painting looking sunny and bright and muddiness is avoided. The eyes are squinting in the light, and there are similar creases at the corners of the slightly upturned lips. Payne's grey and sap green were used in large measure for the color of the sea, toned down with white and a few streaks of prussian blue throne in for good measure. I felt that green or blue on their own was too intense. I also used prussian blue to fiercely demarcate the traingle formed by the neck, hair, jaw and clavicle, accentuating the strong features.
