A special project . . .

It's the hardest thing to put the first stroke of paint on a blank canvas.

I always start with such timidity but once that color changes from ground to atmosphere,

I'm headed in deep.

This is a special project for a friend who loves my expansive landscapes.

They have a gorgeous section of land not too far away from me and she wants a piece that she can hang high on the wall. That gives me permission to use big blocks of color and be more impressionistic in application. Not much detail. But that's the best part of impressionism and abstraction. Freeing.

One thing for sure.

Taking pictures along the way give you the perspective of backing away far enough to see how it's all coming together.

First photo after clouds were added.

I noticed how lopsided the composition was with the clouds too distracting.

Beautiful, but distracting.

I feathered them out and added balance in another cloud shape to the left.

Now to tone down the drive and the rise of the hill a bit.