Mark Nesmith
Sunset at Malloy Bridge Road
Here's a view of the sunset seen just over the tree line on Malloy Bridge Road near Seagoville, Tx. All along Malloy Bridge Road there are acres of farmland. This was a ploughed field covered in a rich, dark top soil. It made a wonderful contrast to the brightly lit sky. Texas sunsets are spectacular, and you can watch them every night and never see exact same thing twice!
When painting skies of any kind I find it useful to premix several colors on my palette. For this painting I mixed a few greenish blues, several tints of yellows, oranges, and reds, and a couple of violets. I like to start with a simple drawing indicating the horizon line and basic cloud formation. I started by loosely laying in the blues of the sky around the clouds. I tend to work towards the middle values initially, so I painted the dark tree line and stronger values of the clouds next. I finished with the vivid yellows and oranges and the small semi-cirle of almost-white for the sun. I touched up a few edges and a couple of highlights on the ground, but I didn't want to overwork this one. I like the loose and quick feeling of this painting. It's kind of like watching the sky itself. Everything seems to be constantly in motion.
This painting is 8" x 10" and is oil on canvas. Please visit paintdailytexas.blogspot.com or www.marknesmith.com to view more of my work.
Sunset at Malloy Bridge Road
Here's a view of the sunset seen just over the tree line on Malloy Bridge Road near Seagoville, Tx. All along Malloy Bridge Road there are acres of farmland. This was a ploughed field covered in a rich, dark top soil. It made a wonderful contrast to the brightly lit sky. Texas sunsets are spectacular, and you can watch them every night and never see exact same thing twice!
When painting skies of any kind I find it useful to premix several colors on my palette. For this painting I mixed a few greenish blues, several tints of yellows, oranges, and reds, and a couple of violets. I like to start with a simple drawing indicating the horizon line and basic cloud formation. I started by loosely laying in the blues of the sky around the clouds. I tend to work towards the middle values initially, so I painted the dark tree line and stronger values of the clouds next. I finished with the vivid yellows and oranges and the small semi-cirle of almost-white for the sun. I touched up a few edges and a couple of highlights on the ground, but I didn't want to overwork this one. I like the loose and quick feeling of this painting. It's kind of like watching the sky itself. Everything seems to be constantly in motion.
This painting is 8" x 10" and is oil on canvas. Please visit paintdailytexas.blogspot.com or www.marknesmith.com to view more of my work.