"Peaceful Evening" 14x25 Sunset Cloud Weather Painting

All types of weather have different and unique impacts on me. While I have a particular enthusiasm for storms and more extreme weather events, I occasionally find myself caught off guard with a particular scene.

This piece was inspired by a photograph I captured one night at work, on my rural hillside. I spent the day tracking what appeared to be an active forecast, with strong to severe storms expected for my area. I don't recall the details, but quiet conditions were the result this particular evening, and I found myself disappointed and feeling restless.

As the evening set in and the sun raced to the horizon, I happened to look toward the North and saw this image. The longer I watched this cumulonimbus cloud struggle to grow against the calm conditions, the more I fell in love with the simple color palette this image was presenting. As if on cue, the angle of the sun provided a washed out white highlight on this tower, making it nearly impossible to look at directly.

I still can't quite wrap my head around the richness of blue in the sky, the dark shadowed foliage devoid of detail and the bright highlight of the cloudtops washing out my vision.

Sometimes a peaceful evening is actually what you need.