"Sunlight - Oak Creek"

chessmonster (69)in #art • 10 years ago

Painted on location along Oak Creek, Sedona, Arizona. The subject is - as the title indicates - sunlight. The intense light came from almost directly above, drenching the scene.

”Sunlight - Oak Creek” 14”x20” (#2057) oil on canvas by Lee Gordon Seebach

When I lived in Sedona, I ventured out into Oak Creek Canyon to paint almost daily. The entire Sedona area is breathtakingly beautiful and there are many places to paint, but Oak Creek is my favorite.

On this particular excursion to paint Mother Nature, I was struck by the intensity of the light coming from almost directly overhead. I also liked the cast shadows on the rocks on the left and how the sunlight just clipped the protruding edges of the red canyon wall in the background.

Normally in landscape painting the middle of the day is the most uninteresting time to be out painting on location. This is because with the sun in the middle of the sky, the light is so intense that color is washed out, everything seems so flat, and cast shadows directly underneath landscape features are sort of boring. This was one time that the subject was anything but boring.

I hope you enjoy seeing this painting.

More to come,

Lee