Charleston Sailor

This "Charleston Sailor" sketch captures a fleeting moment of maritime reflection—an abstracted figure rendered in gestural line and coastal light. Created on paper during Suttles’ 2025 Folly Beach studies, the work merges the immediacy of sketch with the fluid rhythm of sea air and harbor movement. Layers of ink, pastel, and wash suggest both the solitude and endurance of life along the Carolina coast.
Alt Text (≤125 chars): Mixed-media sketch Charleston Sailor by Bill Suttles — abstract figure in blue and ochre tones inspired by Folly Beach, South Carolina.
PBIZ DESCRIPTION: Set along the quiet inlet near Folly Beach, Charleston Sailor captures a moment of stillness between sea and shore. Bill Suttles combines gestural line work with watercolor and pastel accents to evoke the humid light and tidal reflection of the Carolina coast. The single sailboat moored beside a weathered dock becomes both subject and metaphor—solitary yet steadfast—rendered in a palette of turquoise, sand, and graphite that distills the rhythm of maritime life into a poetic sketch.
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Coastal Collection | Mixed Media on Paper | 6.5 × 9.5 in (on 10.5 × 13 paper)