"BEFORE THE STORM" 6X8 OIL

I've been getting out plein air painting recently and have been finding it very challenging. Not frustrating, but challenging. The reason why i say that is because technically it should be frustrating for me...clouds, rocks, trees, oh my! Three things I have extreme difficulty painting. Maybe being out in a peaceful situation relaxes me...maybe not having time to think (LOL) helps me when I paint...not quite sure....

This was a painting I started the night before Hurricane Irene arrived in Newburyport. (See me "sunset on plum island post. This was started the same evening) It's a small oil and for those who know me, plein air is something that goes against everything my painting style stands for...In a nut shell...I'M SLOW and CAN'T mix paint! When you paint outdoors, you need to evaluate your subject immediately, you can't be indecisive and you need to "see" what you're painting.

The problem with painting out doors right now for me is, by the time I get out and get set up...LOL, it's dark! Dark by 7:15 now...I get out around 6, 6:30...by the time I get my easel set up and grab a brush, I'm packing up to leave.

This was started (blocked in) and I was done in about 45 minutes before It was time to go. I spent about another hour and a half on it at home. I shot a really nice picture about every 5 minutes because the sky was so amazing and I knew I didn't have much time.

I love the end result. Not sure if I'm proud because of the clouds? I don't think they are great, but I think they may be my best. Definitely my best in oil. I love the colors. The sky really was that vibrant. Again, I focused on putting a stroke and leaving it. I guess I was in the zone because I managed to keep my palette relatively similar to what I used that night. That made it much easier painting the final strokes. I usually spend so much time remixing colors to match what was already there and I end up creating a disaster. I love the horizon and the tree line...

I have a couple of unfinished plein air pieces I'm going to try to finish. Another reason why I think I was able to complete this was because I got nice photographs to go home with to finish it. Some of the unfinished plein air work I have, I don't have nice photos to compliment the final work. That will be challenging. I may post them regardless...I may never get to those.

Any way...This was fun. Maybe it was the night...not sure...I hope you enjoy it.