Sky Study

One of my very favorite things to paint are dramatic skies. To me, there's nothing more interesting , challenging and rewarding, if done convincingly. The fact that the sky never looks the same way twice lends limitless opportunities to portray it's ever-changing moods. In my view, the sky is like the backdrop for a stage play. It influences everything around it by setting the tone and theme of what is to come. No matter how beautiful your foreground elements are, they will only be as strong as your sky. It's like building a house on a weak foundation. Trouble can only follow.

I get many, many comments and compliments on my "skies", both from students and from clients. When that happens, I feel that I've accomplished my goal with that particular piece, taking the viewer to that specific time and place.

This one is in Oil and was started a few days ago and allowed to dry, which allowed the "sunbeams" to be rendered more transparently, and thus more realistically. I used the tip of a palette knife to apply the "silver lining", which works great for that effect.