Words and Pictures – Sunset, Monday, 16 June 2014

William Van Doren, WORDS AND PICTURES. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on Arches, 17 x 23.

Part of my process, whether I paint five minutes or five days after the sun goes down, is (a) remembering what colors certain notations on my sketches stand for and (b) finding out what pigments may be involved. In this case, we had something called “vague blue.” Also, “swervy curvy cirrus with blue” (represented here and there as “sccwb”) and “roseyish thicker cirrus shield.” Exactly.

Good & Plenty – Sunset, Sunday, 8 June 2014

William Van Doren, GOOD & PLENTY. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on Arches, 17 x 23.

Painting started out with the left half pink (rose madder in white) and the right side black (chromatic black composed of red and blue).

Open Late – Sunset, Wednesday, 19 June 2013

William Van Doren, OPEN LATE. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

The difference between 8:37 and 8:41 p.m. was remarkable, as the sky opened up, although the mountains were still mostly covered. This was a case where the practice of doing a smaller oil sketch at sunset and letting the experience of both the sunset and the first painting sort of ferment helped create something that felt both more conscious and more spontaneous.

Big Joe Made Me Do It – Sunset, Wednesday, 12 June 2013

William Van Doren, BIG JOE MADE ME DO IT. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

Started with a series of “washes” that I’d read were employed by J.M.W. Turner. In fact, for proper application of the technique this would have to be either watercolor or a type of oil painting in which separate glazes had time to dry, but ... tried it anyhow, just to see what would happen.

Re-Dissolve – Sunset (Second Version), Friday, 31 May 2013

William Van Doren, RE-DISSOLVE. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 17 x 23. 

I thought I would try painting yesterday’s sunset on a larger scale — 17x23 instead of 13x19, or ~60% larger — to see if I could find my way to something different. Came out pretty much the same ...

One Painter’s Perspective

It’s natural, but funny, that we say the light changes. The light never changes.