This morning, I thought about going to the park to catch the sunrise, but didn’t get out the door in time. I looked out my window and the sun was already in the sky and the colors were fading fast.

So, I took out my pochade-style easel (a cigar box mounted on a camera tripod) and did a quick color study of the remaining sunrise.

After about ten minutes, it looked great. The cadmium red underpainting showed through just enough, and it was almost perfect.

“Almost” is often my downfall. I kept working on the painting and pretty much ruined its freshness.

On impulse, I decided to take some canvas paper and pull a monotype. (A monotype is a single print made from wet paint or ink. Generally, only one is possible.)

Well, the print lifted just enough paint off the canvas to restore a lot of its freshness. As a bonus, the monotype turned out pretty well, too.

This is the first time I’ve tried a monotype. It was one of those “nothing to lose” moments, and the experiment served me well. I’ll try more monotypes in the future.

The original painting is 6″ x 6″ on a wrapped canvas. As usual, I painted it with oil paints.