The idea of plein air painting at night has always intrigued me. There is a lot to see and document at night that just isn't that interesting in daylight. Street lights, lit windows, mysterious shadows - all make for a fascinating mix of the dark and moody. Problem is it is hard to see your palette and canvas to paint what you are seeing. I know artists that have played around with miners lights and car battery powered lamps and any other number of lighting tools. I have never seen anything that worked so well that I wanted to get out there and paint at night.
But I was playing around with the settings on my point and shoot camera the other night and rediscovered a night shot function. It uses a slow shutter setting but it works surprisingly well. I walked around the block clicking shots in the street lights. I was surprised to see just how much I could document with a small amount of light. I knocked off a fast sketch yesterday in a well lit studio where I could paint off a computer monitor. Maybe these night scenes would make for an interesting series of paintings
What's new: Eola at Palmer, oil on canvas, 12" x 9"
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