"Hudson River from Olana"
9 x 12 inches
oil on panel
Today I went back to Olana today to complete the painting I began last Thursday. Luckily the weather was similar to the previous session. I adjusted the composition and refined the colors and added more detail overall. I also adjusted the shape of the river quite a bit, I think in this version it sits on the plane of the earth more accurately.
Last night I arrived from my lovely weekend off refreshed and excited to paint so I ran out and did this sunset. We've grown to quite a crew of sunset sketchers, there were about 10 of us set up on a high flat driveway area perfect for sunset viewing. Jake said he'd been there all day and saw a black bear running - fast - not far away. I don't think I'll go up there alone!
"Sunset Color Study II"
6 x 8 inches
oil on panel
For my first sunset study I went too dark but on this one I over-compensated and went too light. The hue, value and chroma of each stroke would be hard enough to evaluate if the subject were not also constantly moving and changing! It's a frantic 90 minutes of painting, but also pretty exciting. Random excalamations of dismay erupt from one or another painter at regular intervals.