SOLD TM8547 Starting to Rain – 36×30 oil on panel

You can feel it. The sky darkens, the air starts to smell fresh, there’s a sudden quiet, then the first few drops reveal themselves on the water’s surface. Starting to Rain is about that very special moment, but slowed and saved. The fish will soon be biting. Details below. Enjoy.

TM8547 Starting to Rain – detail from upper left

TM8547 Staring to Rain – detail from top center with young firs

TM8547 Starting to Rain – detail from below center showing eroded granite

Technical painting notes: To suggest the overcast light of incipient rain, I narrowed the tonal range, keeping values close.  I also kept the colors softly unsaturated, relying mostly on variations of warm and cool grays made from white plus  burnt sienna, burnt umber, ultramarine blue, or indigo. Red iron oxide glazes suggested the iron oxides in the granite (I love when the paint is made from the minerals I’m depicting). The crystal-like textures on the granite were the result of spritzing mineral spirits onto the wet base layer, then blotting. I also dotted in additional color specks and highlights. Lichens were suggested by dabbing paint on with a beat up “exploded” old brush.