As sunset approached, the winds picked up and the weather turned blustery. The clouds were heavy shades of blue over the golden-to-magenta sky.
Of course, I dashed to my easel.
My paints were still on my palette after the morning’s oil sketch, so — just adding more zinc white — I was ready to paint again.
Once again, my Ott light made this work possible. Otherwise, my options would have been (a) paint in the dark, or (b) use normal artificial light with its unnatural colors.
Mostly, I wanted to capture the sweep of the clouds and the vivid colors in contrast.
This time, for amusement, I timed myself. This sketch took 12 minutes. However, I spent about 30 seconds softening one area of it this morning, when I saw the sketch in the daylight.
One of my biggest difficulties is knowing when to stop working on a painting or a sketch. I’d rather keep the fresh, raw energy in it, than turn out a more perfect (but relatively sterile) canvas.
This is an 8″ x 16″ sketch on canvas board. I used water-soluble oil paints and boar bristle brushes, usually flats.
In real life, the sky colors (pinks, yellows and oranges) glow more than you can see in the photo.
All in all, I’m very pleased with this sketch.