From the Painting Guide: What makes this such a striking beach scene is the strong composition. Look at the diagonal line of the cliff, echoed by that of the sand and the waves. The jagged edge of the cliff captures the eye, while the dark edge gives sense of height. Your eye is then drawn down to the tiny figures on the beach, which in turn again give a sense of height to the cliffs, and a sense of scale to the HUGE waves thundering onto the beach. There's a hint of a wave forming in the background, while the sea seems to stretch way into the distance, with a great sense of the vastness of the ocean. I'm not surprised it sold quickly!

What I don't like is the 'fuzzy' left- and right-hand edges. I sense that you were trying to frame the scene; I would've just let it run straight off. Maybe even added a bit of white wave on the left-hand side, so as not to have such a perfect wave centred in the painting.

Those figures are, to me, crucial. If you place your finger over them to hide them, the picture becomes impersonal and cold. Having the figures there means that when I look at the painting I put myself down there too, with the sand between my toes.