Bend in the River

One of the most amazing and infuriating things about painting en-plein-air is the continuous changing of the scene. Light changes, clouds come and go, the sun rises or sets. This bend in the river from my portrait quick-painting experience yesterday is a perfect example. When I started the painting, there was hardly a cloud in the sky. Halfway through, the sky seemed to have sprouted these big, beautiful clouds. And by the end of the 45 minutes or so I painted, the sun had dropped low to the horizon, projecting beautiful reds, oranges and yellows onto clouds and trees alike. But of course, you can only do so much chasing of the light in your painting, before you've re-painted the scene three or four times. Usually you have to pick a state for aspects of your scene and freeze them. But snapping photos of the scene as it changes can help you really appreciate those particularly beautiful moments that you might not be able to get on the canvas. So below is also a photo of one of the more beautiful cloud formations witnessed during yesterday's sunset.

-ZR