How did John Constable capture light and atmosphere in his Brighton paintings?

During his visits to Brighton in the 1820s, John Constable sought to capture the immediacy of nature through a scientific and deeply affectionate approach to light and atmosphere.12

To achieve this, he employed several specific techniques in his oil sketches:

• Muted Palette and Brushwork: He utilized a muted color palette combined with short, sensitive brushstrokes to suggest the shimmering, luminous quality of a specific moment in time.1
• Focus on Light: Constable was intensely concerned with depicting changing light, famously aiming to capture "light—dews—breezes—bloom—and freshness". In his Brighton work, he specifically sought to render effects such as "very white and golden light," as noted in his own inscriptions.21
• Optical Effects: By the mid-1820s, his paint surfaces became increasingly fractured, a technique that communicated optical effects and evoked the physical experience of being in nature.3

These innovations allowed him to move beyond mere topographical recording, creating works that captured the palpable atmosphere of the seaside environment.23