Archive for July, 2010

Twilight (hold the vampires)

Painted after sunset from a busy  corner in Bethesda, in front of Barnes & Noble.  There is a moment, just when the light from the store interior matches in value the fading light from the sky, when all the colors get very intense, almost fluorescent. Painting in a crowded area like this was at first daunting, what with crowds of moviegoers and restaurant patrons flowing back and forth, but in the end the biggest challenge was to find parking.

Washington National Cathedral, II

Another  canvas, painted in late afternoon, of the cathedral. The cathedral faces west and captures the light from the setting sun and just glows. This was painted from the lawn reach is crisscrossed with arcing walkways. I tried to weave a tapestry of contrasting colors which seems to work with the intricacy of the architecture.

Washington National Cathedral

This is from the second location of my class “Evening Landscape Painting.” I painted this a few days before the class met to get used to the venue, though it was painted in the morning so the light was very different. The Washington National Cathedral makes an natural choice for a subject. Standing on the highest point in Washington it is always lit spectacularly from sunrise to sunset. Its stone is a remarkable color that  seems to flicker between pink and yellow, so you get to choose what color you want to paint it. I painted this standing in the Bishop’s Garden, looking up at a magnificent tree with bright yellow leaves. The garden seemed so rich and inviting compared to the austere and  and somewhat harsh appearance of the cathedral. I left its lit portions almost white which contrast with the dark shadows draws you eye at first to the top then down the spires to the garden where you can slow down for a nice stroll.

Down along the River

I have been teaching a class, Evening Landscape Painting on Location, sponsored by the Yellow Barn Studio. The class meets at various outdoor locations Wednesday evenings at 6:30 pm. I haven’t heard of anyone else who teaches a weekday class  as the sun begins to set; maybe I am the first! It is a real challenge, even for an experienced painter to paint en plein air when the light is changing so rapidly. But it is amazing to watch as the colors mutate from deep orange to deep blue, with purples and turquoises to match, within the space of a few hours.  The paintings that you see here I painted down along the Potomac River, at the Anglers Inn entrance.We met there the first two weeks of the class.