Choosing the light for your plein air work can be such a challenge. Standing in front of the subject, I quickly lay in my underpainting and mix the colors from life in order to prepare for the full painting. That takes me about 30 minutes (I'm always hoping to get faster at it!). It always likely that your first 30 minutes will be under far different light than the time it takes for the rest of the painting. This particular Saturday afternoon was radiantly sunny all over Sugarhouse while I drove to my location and considered where I would stand. I delayed for about 20 minutes on a phone call before starting the underpainting and color mixing, and by that point, the brilliant light had entirely fled. I had one more glimpse of the sun a few minutes into laying in color, which I had to freeze in my mind, and then refer to that mental picture while I continued the painting from life. That painting from life was primarily from memory for the colors, but the drawing and details could still be taken from life.

Choosing the right time to either snap a reference photo (didn't get a good one during this session) or commit to the light you can see will save you from painting colors and shadows from the beginning of the session in one corner of the painting and finishing the painting with highlights you can see two hours later. This is one of the joys and frustrations of plein air painting. But when you get it right, it feels great!

For comparison, see the Karma Coffeehouse painting in the Plein Air gallery and compare it with the flat and overcast lighting from the end of my painting session.