EARLY AUTUMN SUNRISE

 

Walking down to nearby fields in the dawn , I set up my easel to paint the sunrise. I had to work very quickly and chose to capture the time before the sun appeared over the horizon. There were only a few clouds in the sky so after laying in the background, these went in quickly. The foreground consisted of mid to dark level tones and were painted in using mostly raw umber with some yellow ochre for the lighter grasses. For me, paintings like this are an important reminder to spend more time outside capturing the surrounding landscape along with the many variations of the sky - some of which still astound me even after all these years. I did this oil painting on a board primed with gesso, size was 8 x 10 inches (20 x 25 cm).

SUNDOWN - LAKE ANNA

 

This lake was situated only a few minutes from where we lived so when I saw interesting clouds forming in the evening, I would quickly walk down to do some sketching. Usually a small color study would follow trying to capture something of what I saw. Often this work wouldn't lead to any new paintings but sometimes I would have enough to complete a smaller study like the one shown here. This was an oil on canvas, size 8 x 10 in ( 20 x 26 cm).

EARLY EVENING SKY

 

In this painting, I almost completely focused on the sky which was full of vivid color as the sun lowered towards the horizon. Sometimes the color seems too intense and I have to decide carefully what it is that I want to capture. Although some of my studies are true to life, they sometimes end up looking a little unreal especially when I use the strong reds and pinks that are so often seen at dawn and dusk. In this smaller work, reflected light from the sky illuminates the field which as been tilled - those lines running to a distant treeline which helps give the painting some depth. If I remember correctly, this one was a 9 x 12 in (23 x 30 cm), oil on canvas.