This is the painting for Day 9 #stradaeasel
I thought that I’d do another still life today because it was such an overcast, gray day. I went into the studio this afternoon just as the clouds were breaking up on the horizon and letting light shine through.
Quick as I could, I moved my easel to another window so that I had a good view of Big Arm across Flathead Lake on the west shoreline. It is a beautiful range of mountains that step back into the distance and at this time of the year, the sun sets behind them.
I love the subtle blue-grays in contrast to the peach and yellow tones of the sunset. I discovered that to paint the reflections in the water, I had to load a flat brush with light yellow and pull up the brush from the bottom of the painting and feather out the stroke while lifting the brush. I had to wipe my brush every time and reload it with the light yellow for every upward stroke. I will have to ask some of my oil painter friends how they paint water reflections.
