Saturday, August 8, 2015

Painting during the "Golden Hour"


I happened to be in the town of Sunset, Utah for an event.  After that event I had some time so I headed West where I know the area get's more and more rural the closer you got to the Great Salt Lake.  With less than two hours before the sun set I found a great little rural scene to paint.

art painting acrylic plein air hay shed rural

"West Point Hay Shed"

Acrylic on panel, 8" X 10"
Original - $100



I don't think I've ever painted during the hour or so before the sun set before.  It was a challenge to paint when the light was changing so fast, and to resist the temptation to chase it.  I noticed the closer it got to sunset the warmer the light got, the effect was quite pronounced.  This was the one temptation about chasing the light I caved into,  I glazed yellow ochre over the whole area around the hay shed to try and capture that warm light effect, I'm not sure I succeeded but I like it.  There was a tractor and a truck in the scene as well but the painting is just too small to try to add those things in, maybe I will if I paint a larger version in the studio.
I also had the opportunity to meet a local farmer, her name is Dixie.  It turned out I set up next to the irrigation gate and she stopped by a couple times to open or change the gate. In case you read this, thanks for taking an interest Dixie!



Friday, August 7, 2015

Back to the Acrylics

Okay, I've had my diversions for a while, I think I'm ready to return to painting with acrylics.  I just finished this small painting based on a photo I took of an abandoned 1941 Ford heavy truck sitting on a ranch rotting away, and missing a couple teeth from it's grill.

art painting acrylic truck abandoned rusty Ford

"Missing Teeth"

Acrylic on 1/8" panel, 8" X 10"
Original - SOLD



Hopefully I can focus now.  I really do enjoy painting loosely and impressionistically with acrylics, both in the studio and "en plein air" and I enjoy the finished art so why do I keep letting myself get distracted?  The occasional distraction isn't a bad thing, but I've been taking it way too far, I'll try to do better in the future.