Plein Air, 8:30-9:30pm, Sunset at a Pond in Bozeman, 7.21.26

Original Watercolor Painting, “Plein Air, 8:30-9:30pm, Sunset at a Pond in Bozeman, 7.21.26”, watercolor on paper, 22 x 30”, 2026.

This piece was made outside from life as part of Plein Air Montana 2026, in Bozeman, MT.  I made it with an audience to which I narrated the process of painting it, and from which I fielded questions and comments.  Many times I have attempted to paint at this fleeting time of day, dusk, with similar cloud conditions including the extremely chromatic almost violently pink underflowing lower clouds, in contrast with the explosive white and brilliant gold of clouds catching the direct sunlight above.  For the central cloud in this piece, I strategically left the white of the paper untouched to allow for the brightness of that cloud to shine through.  To make a sky like this in watercolor takes all of my attention and skill, and often it doesn’t come out.  It is so hard for me that I never quite know if the effect will work out, but I give it my all every time, knowing that is all I can do.  This time it did work, fairly well.  The trees and the shoreline of the pond were the final element to be placed, again, subjects I’ve attempted many times but this represents a fairly good and certainly best result so far from this time of day.  Also in the sky, for the discerning, are three ducks in flight from lower right to upper left, just above halfway up and 2/3 of the way over the piece to the left.  I love Montana, I love Bozeman, and it was an honor to be included in the 2026 Plein Air Montana event hosted by the Bozeman Art Museum.

This painting ships unframed to anywhere in the USA.  For international shipping, please reach out to david@DavidOSmithArtist.com to coordinate.