Description
I saw this sky at Wildwood Lake in Nebraska last autumn while on a weekend camping trip with a group of men and boys from my church. I snuck away from the group for a few minutes walk down to the end of the jetty and snap a few photos of these stunning clouds catching the evening sunlight right before sunset. I especially love how the reflection in the lake took the colors from the sky and caused them to swirl with the refracted light in the deeper waters. This was a year or so ago, and ever since, I’ve been wanting to get a chance to paint this scene.
I’ll admit painting the reflection was a little intimidating—usually, the ground gives me a chance to paint loosely and expressively. But here, the shapes in the water needed to match up with the clouds but also add a sense of depth and darkness. The technique of the water ended up being similar to the sky—a lot of thin, dry-brushed layers. I did leave the water a little looser and thinner than the sky, which has just a few areas of thicker paint where the highlights are.
Overall, I was careful to keep this painting fairly loose and raw. With such vibrant colors in the sky and in the reflection, I didn’t want to overwork it, so much of the final piece is the first layer I painted. I think this approach fits well with how I took in this scene—I didn’t have a lot of time to let it soak in, but I left with an impression that stuck with me.
Autumn Evening at Wildwood Lake is a 20”×30” oil painting on heavyweight duck canvas. The painting is gallery wrapped, with the sides of the canvas painted a solid dark gray-blue, and has a picture wire attached for hanging. It is initialed on the front with a full signature and title written on the back.
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