Improvised Solar Color Wheel – Sunset, Tuesday, 1 July 2014

William Van Doren, IMPROVISED SOLAR COLOR WHEEL. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on Arches, 17 x 23.

My sketch of this sunset included some improbable color notes for the area around the sun: “flat hot yellow gray (lilac) extends way out” and then “could be sepia + violet + (warm) white + yellow with optical bands of green.” (Meaning, I saw green every time I blinked.) And as the sun went down behind the mountains, there was deeper gold and violet.

Radiation Vibe – Sunset, Monday, 30 June 2014

William Van Doren, RADIATION VIBE. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on Arches, 17 x 23.

I was amazed to find I’d never used this title. Thank you, Fountains of Wayne.

Form Follows Function – Sunset, Sunday, 29 June 2014

William Van Doren, FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on Arches, 17 x 23.

Reading Between the Lines – Sunset, Saturday, 28 June 2014

William Van Doren, READING BETWEEN THE LINES. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on Arches, 17 x 23.

In a Fragonard Neighborhood – Sunset, Friday, 27 June 2014

William Van Doren, IN A FRAGONARD NEIGHBORHOOD. Sunset from Hilltop Road, Charlottesville, Va. Oil on Arches, 17 x 23.

I was in an old Charlottesville area near the junction of Blue Ridge Road and Hilltop, and while the French court painter Fragonard might have found the homes not quite grand by Versailles standards, and the architecture just a bit Anglo, the places are plenty nice, and with the great trees and big sky I was reminded of his work, or of the world suggested by it. I love all that romantic Fragonard and Boucher stuff and I don’t care who knows it. Anyone who paints the clouds and trees of high summer — not to mention beautiful women on a swing — is alright by me.

Downpour Outpour – Sunset, Thursday, 26 June 2014

William Van Doren, DOWNPOUR OUTPOUR. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on Arches, 17 x 23.