Painting wild places...

Saturday May 5 was clear and sunny, so I headed out to paint in the afternoon. I hiked all the way in to Grassy Pond, with probably 75% of the trail still ice and snow, a foot deep in places.  The one view of the pond that temped me to paint still had snow and ice in it and no good spot to stand, so I ended up hiking back out. I'd vowed to do no more snow paintings! But it was still great to be out and good exercise.

Driving home about 5, I pulled into the small parking area on the Harrietstown Hill with a lovely view of Whiteface Mountain to the east. The sun was behind me and the mountain was brightly lit, so I knew what to expect. As the sun sinks lower on the horizon, the light becomes more golden, then pinkish, then reddish purple. I started out OK, and painted the mountain and sky without putting in any shadows - just trying to capture the forms of the landscape. I know better than to get caught in the trap of painting one light condition and then changing it as the light changes, but I ended up doing it anyway! 

Here's how it turned out - the last light of the day on Whiteface Mountain.