Not Entirely Forgotten (Sunset, Tuesday, 28 June 2011)

William Theodore Van Doren, NOT ENTIRELY FORGOTTEN (Sunset/Twilight from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

After five hours of storms, the clouds had an after-party, and went through a dizzying array of changes. At times the sky looked like a Turner, then like a Tiepolo, then there was a curious green layer of cloud, and what had been gold turned orange-pink. At some point I had to give up trying to absorb it all – try to forget and just paint.

Bright Spots (Sunset, Monday, 27 June 2011)

William Theodore Van Doren, BRIGHT SPOTS (Sunset/Twilight from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

It’s possible that an ancient tube of slightly separated zinc white – the only white I had left – was responsible for the thin, almost rubbed texture of this painting, but whatever it was, it seemed to work for this particular sky.

A Cloudy Blue Sky (Sunset, Sunday, 26 June 2011)

William Theodore Van Doren, A CLOUDY BLUE SKY (Sunset/Twilight from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

The sky was all shades of gray, with scattered rain. I decided to render most of the gray clouds as shades of blue, and turned the mountains from pale blue to gray.

“And In Conclusion, May I Say ...” (Sunset/Twilight, Saturday, 25 June 2011)

William Theodore Van Doren, “AND IN CONCLUSION, MAY I SAY ...” (Sunset/Twilight from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

Maps and Legends (Sunset, Friday, 24 June 2011)

William Theodore Van Doren, MAPS AND LEGENDS (Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

Last Sunset Standing (Sunset, Thursday, 23 June 2011)

William Theodore Van Doren, LAST SUNSET STANDING (second version)(Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

William Theodore Van Doren, LAST SUNSET STANDING (Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

As sunset approached I was at a small gathering where I was delivering a commissioned painting; we watched the sky and discussed the colors, speculating on the painting to come. An hour later, almost everything we’d observed had become obsolete. This was “last” in a series of quite different skies.

Update on Friday, June 24, 2011 at 11:04AM by BVD

I wasn’t very happy with the first version that I painted last night, so I’ve done a new one this morning (the one on top). The sky was so strange that I may not have quite gotten it in either case, but ... I feel better now!