East of Independence - Oil, 6" x 8"
We lost the brilliant sunshine of California on day three of painting, which posed a challenge. We decided to head up to the desert flat on the east bench above Independence, California, a little slip of nothing town you'd miss in the middle of the night. The overcast skies flattened out most of the terrain and I was forced to reevaluate possible subject matter. For this painting I focused on the horizontal banding in the landscape and the several layers of atmospheric separation as the landscape receded. The sky was changing pretty quickly and I eventually had to just pick a cloud formation and focus on the painting rather than what was happening in the landscape front of me. I faced the same thing earlier with
Cowhorn Valley Ridge, so I just ran with whatever light and arrangement I though was most interesting. These paintings also forced me to paint quickly and make committed decisions. I think the most time I spent on any of these paintings was a little over two hours. I like the confidence of stroke and color that I found while painting outdoors.
Dude! These are so exciting! I'm thrilled to see you have the courage to step outside the safety of your studio and brave the elements armed with only your skill, passion and a pochade box.
ReplyDeleteYou are a constant source of inspiration.
Well done.
Thanks Ron. You have kicked me in the rear more than once, so likewise. It was a lot of fun and I am not scared to do it again, which is a big deal.And I got 8 pretty good pictures out of it. We need to get together and paint sometime in the near future.
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