I'm nearing the end of my series of landscape paintings, started back in October when the fall colors were blazing. This is all new to me, doing landscapes, so it has been challenging and emotional, striving to create something on canvas that even begins to hint at the breathtaking beauty I see all around me. These photos show day #1 and today on a new painting I might call Red Sea. I woke up one dark and gloomy morning exactly one week ago to look out the window and see an amazing sight. The dark clouds had opened up to show the bright light of the sun and below the clouds, rays of light were breaking through and lighting up a tug boat that was passing along the far shore. I shot some photos and did some sketches and went to work, starting with a partial underpainting of napthol red mixed with all the scraps of paint on my last palette. Probably tomorrow I'll finish it up. (Still working on the water.) Hmm, now that I've seen it on the computer, I think it would be better without all that stuff going on in the top third. Too busy!
