Blue skies

Searching for Serenity 16x20 oil on panel, copyright 2012

After a series of failed pastel paintings, I decided it was time to switch it up a bit.  Oils have been neglected for the past nine months or so while I worked on my pastel technique but recently I've been feeling a bit burnt out on the landscapes.  I won't abandon pastels altogether but instead will take the opportunity to explore a few alternatives.  

One of my favorite past times as a kid was to stare up at the sky, watching the ever changing clouds and shifting blues.   We lived near the airport, so contrails would some times crisscross the view, and I often wondered about the people on the planes, where they were going and what they were thinking.  In fact, my first sky painting was titled Where Are They Going?  I played with a few more paintings, but none came out quite as well as the first and the idea was ignored for quite awhile.  But it's always been in the back of my mind to paint a whole series of skies and I find myself rather compulsively photographing sunrises and sunsets, clouds and storms.

A few weeks ago a decided to paint a little acrylic as a get well gift for a friend, which worked out  quite well for both of us.  It really got me contemplating sky paintings again, and a few days later I painted two in oil, one right after the other, over the course of several hours.  It had been a frustrating, stressful day and the work became an almost meditative exercise, and a very satisfying one.   I think I'll have to keep a stack of panels on hand, ready to be used when needed.  I'll post the second one once it dries a bit more.

Don't forget, the art auction to raise funds for the Red Cross is still going on; you have through Friday to bid on my brownstone!