Soulful Musings & Thoughts About Painting

Nocturnes and moonrises have always interested me. I enjoy the gradated soft blues that stretch up from the horizon and darken as they saturate the canopy of sky. Couple that with the luminous contrast of a rising full moon and the glimmering pinpricks of city lights--it's an iconic nocturne. Though it looks deceptively simple to execute, they've perplexed me many times. All you need is some blue/black for the sky and yellow/white for the moon, right? Hmm that's where the challenge comes in. One can easily use a full palette of colors to build those skies - even warm reds. Skies with all that blue are surprisingly warm colored. Then there's the finesse of tackling the ambient colors of the landforms and tree shapes, without them looking too haunting or ominous. I can't say I've mastered it, but I do enjoy the challenge. I've painted it from my dining room window many times. But being outside along a nearby marsh or river to deeply observe those reflections is the best option. Want to bundle up and try it?!

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5x7, oil on panel, $210