The Last Moment

The Last Moment

14" X 11"

PastelIt was a great day for thunderstorms...in the distance. We got some nice rain in the afternoon, but the huge anvil heads, like this one, passed us by. But what a view. I only had about five minutes to run into the house and grab my pastels before this one disappeared. I tried my blue paper this time, and I think that caught the light of twilight well. The grey appeared to grow out of the muted blue in the way the clouds do when you can't quite tell whether or not you're seeing sky or a storm. I tried some bright colors for the light on the clouds this time, rather than my usual white or light yellow. It was so fun to add those hints of pink!

Sunlit Thunderheads

I did this pastel of clouds in the few moments I had before the sun set and the thunderheads grew. There was so much contrast and shifting shadows that it was a rush to try and capture it all. I'll have to create a series of these clouds-there's just so many here in Texas, and they shift into even greater versions of themselves every second.

Summer Shadows

Detail:
This one took several sittings before completion. Usually, I paint en plein air and end it once the day is over. With this one, I spent some time in the studio adding new elements and making some finishing touches. The passing rain clouds in the distance appeared of their own accord and moved themselves across the landscape. It felt like the painting itself was coming to life on its own, and all I really had to do was help it grow. Looking at it now reminds me of a song that was important to me in childhood called Storms in Africa by Enya (I found a video of it on youtube here) The way the music crescendos and then fades reminds me of passing thunderstorms like the one in this painting, and like the ones that have been happening here in Texas since the days I painted this.