Experiment

Moon Dance. Oil on canvas panel, 8x10. Sold

One night last winter, when the moon cast amazing blue shadows on the snow, I began to get the idea of trying to paint at night. But how? If there's too much light - like a lamp - I wouldn't be able to see those shadows or the moonlight. Without that lamp, though, how could I see the colors or the canvas, to paint?

I think a miner's headlamp might work, and I'm going to try that - but the other night, my last night at the lake house, I woke at 4 a.m., and found that the moon was full, bright, and about to sink over the edge of the mountain.

I set up my easel behind the van, opened the back door of the van, and painted in the wan light from inside the van. When day broke, I found I had to make some adjustments (for starters, it helps if you put the yellow that you want to use on the palette, instead of the yellow you don't want to use - believe me, they look the same in low light!)

So this is an interesting painting. Successful? Maybe. Maybe not. A first step, for sure.