PUSHING COLOR

"Sunrise Colors" 8" x 10" oil/c

One of the challenges plein air painters
face is the quickly changing light. Many,
like Richard Schmid, prefer to paint on
overcast days where the light remains
more consistent for a longer period
of time. This gives the painter more time
to capture a scene.

Others, like myself, prefer the early morning
or late afternoon lighting with its enriched
colors and long shadows. Throw in some
white goats and the painting practically
paints itself. The problem is the light changes
so fast that there is no time to piddle
around. The "Four G's of Painting" comes into
play. That's four G's as in "Get in there",
"Get it on", "Get it over with" and "Get out!"

This painting is one of those. I'm standing at
the bottom of a creek. There's snow on
the ground. All the colors in the bottom
half of the painting are cool. The sun is
coming up and is lighting up the cliff wall
at the back of my scene. The play of warm
against cool colors almost always works
in favor of the painter. Start to finish
this is a thirty minute study.