Vibrant Coastal Dune Impressionism
Dune Shadow #9 is an original 6" × 8" pastel-on-paper painting by contemporary New England landscape and maritime artist Sandra Kavanaugh.
This bright plein-air work captures the shifting light and contours of a coastal sand dune. Sunlit beach grasses glow against long, cool shadows cast across the steep sandbanks, creating a lively contrast of warmth, depth, and coastal atmosphere.
Key Details
Title: Dune Shadow #9
Artist: Sandra Kavanaugh
Medium: Pastel on paper
Dimensions: 6" × 8" horizontal format
Subject: Coastal seascape/sand dunes and beach grass
Technical Details and Style
- Medium: Professional-grade soft pastels on textured fine art paper.
- Technique: Energetic multidirectional scumbling and quick linear marks give the dune grasses texture and movement. Sharp vertical and diagonal strokes in bright ochre and green build dense clumps of sea oats, while broader sweeping applications shape the rolling sand hills.
- Style: Contemporary Impressionism with plein-air influence, emphasizing natural sunlight, shifting shadows, and coastal atmosphere over photographic detail.
- Composition: A horizontal layout is structured around a strong diagonal slope. A broad, shadowed sand ridge cuts across the upper left, balanced by a sunlit clearing of vibrant wild grasses that anchors the foreground on the right.
- Color palette: Cool lavender and violet shadows define the steep dune, contrasted with canary yellow, glowing orange, and mossy green grass beneath a soft coastal sky.
