I've been studying the paintings of the 19th century impressionists and the beautiful way in which they handled water and clouds. Water, like clouds, is something that is hard to paint from life, for the simple reason that both clouds and water are moving constantly.
The best we can do as artists is to try to paint the movement of water with some degree of passion and emotion, otherwise, the water has no movement and appears lifeless. The best we can do when painting clouds, is to try to portray their ethereal qualities with a light hand, as clouds have no borders. As Don Quixote said in Man of La Mancha, (though he wasn't speaking of clouds, but of the hem of Dulcinea's garment), they are like gossamer, sheer, gauze-like, yet having substance that changes constantly through varying times of day and light temperatures.
In this painting, my goal was to create that warm hazy light that we sometimes get on summer days, when the sun is trying to break through, but isn't quite there yet.
I hope you enjoy this painting, because I enjoyed painting it!
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