"City Lights Reflections" 8" x 10" oil/linen
I should have named this one
"Cloud Chaser" because that's what I was
doing in order to capture this one. You see
these types of extra large cloud formations
in New Mexico and Arizona all the time but here
in Texas it may only occur a few times
a year.
I had spent most of the day south of Austin
painting. I had two in the box I felt good
about and was settling in for the four hour
drive home to McKinney. This lone large
cloud mass began to form on the east side of
the highway as I came through the
Austin/Georgetown area. I couldn't help but
notice it and decided I should try to capture
it as a painting. The problem was I couldn't
get far enough away from the city to see the
bottom of the cloud.
As I came through Round Rock the highway
access road on the west side is elevated so I went
through town, made a u-turn and finally
got high enough to see the bottom of the cloud
and it was lit up like a Christmas tree from the
rising dust and city lights. It was amazing.
I set up behind a dumpster near the Rudy's BB-Q place
and by now the sun was setting fast so I had to
work fast. There is no way to feel this kind of rush
working in the studio. Twenty minutes later I had the
basics of what I needed for the painting. I put on a
head lamp to light the canvas as I finished the piece
on the spot. I made up most of the landscape at
the bottom of the piece. My apologies to Best Buy
and Walmart for not including them in the painting.
Just because its there doesn't mean I have to paint it.
4 comments:
Rusty, you're an inspiration to me, especially since I tend to make my work too slow and deliberate. Thanks
Thanks Rick. Move outdoors and you will be forced to speed up. Better yet, try to do a painting start to finish the last thirty minutes of a day.
Great piece. Great narrative. I think I would have just stood there w/ my camera. I know, not the same!
spectacular!
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