Early Morning Light

Oil on cavas 24" by 20". This is Blithedale Canyon in Mill Valley, Marin County, CA. The trees are all coastal redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens of the cypress family). These are the tallest living trees in the world (up to 379 feet tall) and can live 1200 to 1800 years. Prior to extensive logging that started in the 1850s they covered over 2 million acres along the Pacific Coast of Northern California and Southern Oregon. Over 95% or them are gone, but many of the remaining trees are now protected in public lands.

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Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on October 22, 2013 at 6:24: Ruby, I don't know that you would call it a formula, but your shadows are the local color of the object plus the color of your reflected light that gets into the shaded areas (blue sky in this case). I try and keep the shadows as loose as possible and to paint some color into them. The cast shadow from a round object (tree trunk) will not have sharp edges, and the shadow will lighten and warm a bit the further it is from the object casting it. Thanks for your flattering comments; I really love painting dappled light and scenes like this and when I paint outdoors, if I come upon lighting like this, it becomes irrestible to me, and I have to paint it. I am definitely better at it in my studio paintings, but I keep working on it outdoors. Stu

Comment by Ruby on October 22, 2013 at 5:45: a very nice painting. I have noticed that your shadows are always PERFECT!!! What is your formula for shadows Stuart?

Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on August 21, 2013 at 23:46: Thanks Kim. Stu

Comment by Kim Hayes on August 21, 2013 at 19:23: Nice one Stu, Great subject matter and difficult to get it right as there are so many differing tones to sort out. Atmospheric and cool!!

Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on August 18, 2013 at 15:22: Thanks Lyndon. Stu

Comment by Lyndon Baxter on August 18, 2013 at 14:58: Stu, I really like the sense of light in this painting, a difficult subject ...well executed.