Sometimes, you miss a fleeting moment, or it can’t be captured during a single plein air session.
The painting featured above is a blend of two plein air sketches, crafted into one studio painting, stitched with some fun colors. The resulting studio piece captures the fleeting mood and atmosphere of a scene I had experienced a few weeks before.
I live in a small town that, in its heyday, was a mining community. We’re surrounded by scenery that whispers of the iron mining glory that once was. There are abandoned buildings, half-hewn hills of stone, and old roads and railways that have become trails for bikers, hikers, and artists.
Actually, I’m the only artist I’ve ever seen on these scenic trails.
I’ve biked and hiked them, lately with my Anatolian shepherd dog named Clyde, and my wife Kris.
One warm evening, Kris and I were walking Clyde in a field below a long ridge of granite covered with maple and red pine. The setting sun, reflecting and refracting in the clouds, created a glowing, dreamy atmosphere.
I told my wife that I needed to come back and paint that scene. The next day, we hiked out again, this time with my little plein air kit.
Even though it was the same time of day, the sky was clear, and the light wasn’t the same. But I painted the scene anyway.
At left is the painting from that day. It’s a little 5” X 7” for $45.00
The moment was long gone, but I still had a nice little painting.
About a week or so later, our 6-year-old grandson came to visit. It was a rainy, stormy day, and we were out running around with him. I had put my plein air kit in the car, just in case a cool scene popped up. But the day was and just too rainy to paint …until almost the end.
Just as the sun was setting, the clouds broke, and the orange sun lit up the trailing walls of the storm clouds. I whipped out my plein air kit and started painting.
My grandson sat on the trunk of my car a watched me paint. We talked about the different colors in the clouds and on the canvas. He told me I was actually doing a good job.
When I was done, he asked if he could have it. Of course he could have it!
This was the dramatic light that I wanted in the first painting.
So, I combined the two sketches. We artists do crazy things like that. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t.
This time it worked.
I took the opportunity to play with my out-of-the-tube-violets. I also mixed some interesting purples by layering different reds over different blues, and vice-versa.
The warmly lit clouds pop from the cobalt blue sky, casting a beautiful evening glow over the ridge and the field.
Finally, I dressed it up with some Queen Anne’s lace.
The finished painting beautifully conveys the impressions and feelings I had on that golden evening.
I hope you like it as much as I do!
