Sun and Snow    9x12    oil on panel

    This past Tuesday I went down to a favorite haunt, Gateway Mesa Open Space. The difference this time was that it was also a PAAC paintout, so it would be one of the few times I wasn't painting alone there. I've been here a lot and good amount of the paintings on my website are from this open space. It was a little cold, not too bad, and very bright and sunny. For some reason I caught myself referring to the snow as 'sand' while painting and again later while talking to another painter. Very strange, I have no idea where that came from. Anyway, that's where the title came from. Maybe I just wanted to be at the beach!

    I did this with the dead palette, except I used blue instead of Payne's Gray. The shadows were very blue and I originally wanted to capture that. I've gotten so used to Payne's Gray as my blue that I subconsciously dulled down my Ultramarine Blue and it almost looks like I didn't use the blue at all. I think I may stick with this modified palette for a little while because I really like the blue better than the gray. As we get closer to summer it will be interesting to see what else I need (or want) to change on the palette. Maybe a brighter yellow? Guess I'll find out soon enough!