There have been many beautiful days of plein air painting. The anticipation of what will be often starts the night before. The dawn's light helps me decide where I am going to paint and what color my board will be.
This day in October 2014 may have been the best day for painting I have experienced. The quality of the light was unique. I know that the light is always unique but it had this special quality.
Everywhere I looked was an inspiring view.
Painting idea: The dynamic motion of the water leading you into the painting and contrasting the iconic bluffs' color against the smooth color of the late afternoon sky.
Painting idea: Building the dark foreground to emphasize the bright orange bluff
Painting idea: Emphasize the contrast in values and color of the foreground and emphasize the complimentary colors in the major shapes to create an impressionistic focus on the rushing water.
This painting couldn't possibly express what was going on all around me that day.
How many paintings could one day inspire? A tonalist sunset?
Future painting? Emphasize the light on the rocks, the pattern they form, and the design the receding water in the sand has left behind.
The water marks in the sand leading you into the rocks with the Kelp with the sun shining through the mass and the complimentary colors of the rocks versus the shadows and the sand
An ode to the feeling of a beach in it's last moments of light. Focus on the shadows against the sandstone.
The contrast of the sun on the water versus the dark shapes of the rocks with the rim light and the dissolution of light into the bright sunset
The bright light against the cliffs and the reflection in the dark sand with the dance of light upon the water
Painting idea: Tonalist muted and moody with the focus on the color transitions in the sky and on the bluff.
Inspiration is something that seems to be within me waiting to be revealed by my surroundings. On days when I have the time to create my inspiration is lurking just below the surface of my consciousness. The landscape before me is the foil that sparks my imagination and creativity. It can be as quick and spontaneous as a glance out of the corner of my eye .
As with anything, that level of engagement with the subject fluctuates. There have been many occasions when I have done two paintings from the same location.
Have you ever been asked the hypothetical questions about having to eat only one food, listen to one song, or spend the rest of your life in one place with one person?
I had a day in 2014 that made me think about how a single day could inspire a limitless number of paintings.
The painting realized.
The idea for the painting was: The subtle transition of color in the sky with the setting sun against the dynamic color of the sun's reflection in the ocean and the effect on the major shape in the painting (the wave) with some fireworks in the wet sand.
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