Day 216 ~ Do something with light.

When I saw the bright full moon on Thursday night I wanted to see if I could do a painting in which the moon would glow. I noticed how the values in the foreground were the darkest and how things got progressively lighter 'closer' to the moon. I don't live on a lake, but I have a memory of what the moonlight looks like on one.

I'm using the 6"X8" format again. Seems I'm in a mood to turn these daily projects into real pieces when I can. Probably because I have a show coming up. It's okay. It still feels like play!

This painting was first a watercolor. It didn't look strong enough to me, the moon didn't look like a light, so I painted over the watercolor with acrylics. It's a much cooler (as in temperature) look. I wasn't sure I was doing the right thing until I finished, and then I liked it. I'm thinking the white shell might work against the effect, but it needed something at the bottom, and I'm inclined to add things like bundles of painted sticks, etc., to my work.

The triptych format is something I've been exploring in larger paintings. Not always easy getting the composition to work! Thank-you to my wise and generous friend Doug for some guidelines.