I've started a new piece; I think I'll call it "Across the Bay". I'm experimenting with blue skies and this one looked just like the misty skies we get when the marine layer is hovering. Ultramarine and titanium white make almost a lavender gray blue. The mist thickens near the horizon, but I will add touches from the hills across the bay, and closer, there will be sailboats. We saw a regatta in strong fog once, and it was somewhat eerie seeing the boats appear and disappear in the mist.
I want to work a butterfly painting, but I want to be sure what to do with the sky first. It will probably be lake blue + titanium, but I want to experiment with phthalo blue and white, too. I may add a bit of white/yellow while the blue is drying to make it seem especially sunny. The thing I want to capture is how when the sun shines through their wings, the underside of the monarch butterfly is as bright as the top side. I noticed this on a visit to the monarch sanctuary at Natural Bridges state park with my parents. I'm also hoping for the sense of joy and wonder the sight brings.
Looking over my works, I paint a LOT of sky. I love bird-watching, star gazing, and watching sunsets. Kate Bush's song, "The Big Sky", rather spoke to me.
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