Cloudy Killarney Sunrise

The Southampton Art School’s Class “Killarney - the Annual Adventure” happens every October just as the autumn colours are peaking. It is an inspirational place. Plein air vistas are everywhere. We just need to slow down and really see and appreciate the colours and forms.
I do a quick demo at the start of each session. The goal is to illustrate laying the foundation, design and composition for the final work without taking up too much of the participant’s painting time. I then cruise the easels offering assistance, advice and encouragement without messing with their own “voice” or style.
This was the first demo of the 2013 Killarney Adventure. As you can see I am virtually standing in the water at 9 am on Monday morning. I decided on a skyscape looking southeasterly. The participants wanted to see a meteorologist paint real clouds. In this case there was not enough sun to blind your eyes. The cold front had passed through the previous evening. Chilly westerly winds were not cold enough for me to have on more than my signature white painting shirt. I love painting skies…
We needed to paint quickly before the “hang back”, comma head precipitation arrived around midday. I keep mentioning that you really should take a meteorologist with you on all of your vacations...