Lighthouse Art: Placement & Why It Feels Open And Light
I started this piece thinking about the classic striped lighthouses along the coast.
The bold red bands against white stones and a pale sky catches your eye, which is the exact reason they’re designed that way - to be visible from far out at sea, and that strong subject with stripes that demand attention make them really fun to use as artistic subjects.
Composition-wise, I used a 1 / 0.618 / 1 ratio. I placed it roughly left most upper third to draw in the eye. Your eye starts in the dune grass, rises up the tower, then out to the water on the right.
The lighthouse draws you in, then you can drift right and experience the wide open ocean space.
The colors stayed pretty soft overall—coastal blues, gray clouds, sandy tones—and even though the red stripes are somewhat muted, they still create a satisfying focal point. They’re the anchor of the whole piece, pulling your attention back to the lighthouse while still allowing an open airy feel of the sky and sea on the right.
If lighthouses are your thing, Maine Cliffs is the other coastal lighthouse piece in the collection.
