Washington Park Paint-Out Nocturne

was yesterday, and I was accompanied by the wonderful and amazing Karma Leigh and Javier Flores. Here are some action shots courtesy of Karma and a couple from me before my batteries died out, so you cant quite see the scene I was aiming to capture, but that is why I have provided you with the final painting. I made the slight mistake of working on a barely primed canvas, and for anyone that knows what this does its like trying to throw rocks in mud. Basically the paint has zero movement until there is a decent amount of build-up, and for on location nocturnes, this doesn't happen quickly. However, I worked through and aimed to block in layers quickly. I used the Zorn-Anders palette again, and this time I turquoise shifted it, with pthalo turquoise. The desired effect was that the murky foreground water with the silhouette reflection, was a interesting color mixing challenge, and I think for my first nocturne this year one that I am satisfied with. It got pretty cold down by waterside so we painted for about 2 hours, maybe a half hour less, biding the occasional mosquito bite. Nocturnes are such great learning exercises with the crowding of the values and the bright man-made lights, it is important to stick to your original idea of what you want to achieve. My goal was overall silhouette with light glow, and murky foreground water. Look for more from Denver Plein air paint-out and personal locale setups, and visit both the Plein Air Facebook page, and GTMD.org for more info. 

"Midnight glow at waters edge" Oil on canvas , 9 x 12