The tyranny of pressure.

"A gleam of light at sunset - gentle grey conditions on the Dart Riverbed." 530mm x 1350mm Oils on canvas

Why is it that the best painting light is in the very early morning when I am either up too late or busy letting other things get in the way of painting. Or it's late in the day when the sun is low and we know there is really insufficient time to complete a whole painting - especially a big canvas like this? ( I love painting big!)

With this one, it was about 2:30 p.m. when I finally got started. I had spent too long setting up video cameras, making sure the sound system was working properly, etc.... and I knew it would be getting very dim at about 5:00 p.m. Talk about pressure!

I decided that I was best to just get on with it, enjoy myself,
forget the time, and race on regardless. I'm very pleased I did. I like it despite the fact that it is very grey, almost subdued.

Possibly because of the rush though, I got the audio settings on the camera wrong and so the soundtrack is rubbish! The river in foreground is babbling loud and clear, but my voice, only inches from the microphone, can barely be heard in the background.
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​It looks as if the time saved on the painting will now be used doing what is called a voice-over - recording the soundtrack back in the studio.........hmmmm!

​Mid - year resolution: get on site sooner!