79.  Original Plein Air Watercolor Painting, “Plein Air, One Day Before the Full Moon, North Snow Bowl Road, 7:45-8:10pm, 5.22.24, Wednesday”, watercolor, 30 x 42”, 2024

Location: Flagstaff, AZ

Event: ArtX Flagstaff

I’d tried to paint the full(ish) moon from life once before, years ago, before I’d had the optical painting training that was so crucial to completing works like this one, to be able to see the colors as they are, if not always paint them accurately. I pulled over to the side of the road to make this on my way back to the airbnb one evening. The moon was lighting up the landscape and staining the sky as well, a striking glow in the blue darkness. I was working in the dark holding my phone flashlight in one hand, painting with the other. I don’t typically work at night, but this was a special exception. Over the course of Art Tour 2024, this is one of very few “nocturnes”, or night paintings I made, but it was important to me at the time to render the moment in color.