It’s been about ten years since I painted daily, plein air sunrise sketches. Of course, these are often seasonal subjects, since sunrises tend to be more colorful in the winter.

Nevertheless, I’m pleased with this oil sketch. I’m not sure that it’s finished yet, but I like it anyway. It captures the pastel qualities of the sky when I woke up.

It was a rather mad dash for my palette, and this was when I discovered that a screw is loose in my easel. I held it steady with my foot as I painted; I’ll repair it later today.

This work is more Tonalist than my earlier sunrise sketches in Stratham, New Hampshire. Instead of addressing color first, I was looking for tone, and realized how much lighter the clouds are when they’re facing the sunrise… as opposed to the upper/back side of the clouds that don’t get such direct sunlight.

Most of my daily art will be sold at eBay, when each painting is dry. To get the earliest alerts when my paintings are for sale, sign up for my free newsletter.