Big Joe Made Me Do It – Sunset, Wednesday, 12 June 2013

William Van Doren, BIG JOE MADE ME DO IT. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

Started with a series of “washes” that I’d read were employed by J.M.W. Turner. In fact, for proper application of the technique this would have to be either watercolor or a type of oil painting in which separate glazes had time to dry, but ... tried it anyhow, just to see what would happen.

Re-Dissolve – Sunset (Second Version), Friday, 31 May 2013

William Van Doren, RE-DISSOLVE. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 17 x 23. 

I thought I would try painting yesterday’s sunset on a larger scale — 17x23 instead of 13x19, or ~60% larger — to see if I could find my way to something different. Came out pretty much the same ...

One Painter’s Perspective

It’s natural, but funny, that we say the light changes. The light never changes.

Making an Outline After Writing the Book – Sunset, Monday, 14 January 2013

William Van Doren, MAKING AN OUTLINE AFTER WRITING THE BOOK. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

The Twelfth of Never – Sunset, Wednesday, 12 December 2012

William Van Doren, THE TWELFTH OF NEVER. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

Immediately after watching the sunset, and before painting, I posted this on The Very Rich Hours Facebook page:

Just a note in passing, in case I'm never heard from again after tonight: As people who live around here may attest, I just witnessed the most strangely beautiful, or beautifully strange, sunset I can remember. And, of course, I have seen a few. Wish me luck, because it was the kind of sky that could make a painter consider turning in their badge. I'm not sure a painting can come near it, but we'll see, soon enough.

The number of people who commented on this, and the fact that many of them had seen the same sunset and were waiting for the painting, points up something I’ve never mentioned, which is the nature of this series as a performance. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, and sometimes it falls somewhere between. And I probably can’t make those judgments.

Crazy Quilt – Sampler from 15 Minutes of the Sunset – Sunset, Thursday, 1 November 2012

William Van Doren, CRAZY QUILT. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.