Daybreak

Daybreak , 2011
28x24 inches, oil on gallery canvas

A foggy autumn field early in the morning.  The mists are rising off the yellowed grasses.  It's going to be a beautiful day.

Skies and clouds can't be done to justice in any other wet medium (IMHO).  They can be done beautifully in pastels, especially with major judicious blending.  But acrylics, encaustic (is that wet or dry or a mixture?), tempera - unless you add mediums that end up extending wet time, and so mimic oils - it's just not the same as what you can do in oils.

I rarely paint in oils - I've developed some allergies to the paints themselves, not all brands but some, so I'm careful. It's not the solvents either, although they can be nasty, it's actually the carriers the pigments are suspended in. I don't know what exactly, as the tubes never list everything, but I pick and choose my paints accordingly across the different brands.

I am definitely going to do more skyscapes, most likely in oils, and because of my allergies probably limit it to about 4 a year.  But oh what fun I'll have!

TTFN
Terry