In anticipation of the Super/Blood Moon; a "super moon" (full moon closest to the earth) and a "blood moon" (lunar eclipse) combo a few days ago on September 27th, several artists friends set up our easels at the Tualatin Wildlife Refuge in Tualatin, Oregon where we would have a nice, long-range view.
We waited and waited for the first glimpse of what was supposed to be a spectacular sight, but what happened was rather anticlimactic; the moon was already in lunar eclipse before anyone could make it out about three fingers above the horizon...
Pearl Moon (6x8) oil on linen
Apparently, there was just enough haze in the sky that the pink atmosphere of sundown melded with the orange shade of the eclipse and made the "Blood Moon" barely perceptible... Only the star gazers who also showed up with their telescopes and zoom lens cameras were able to get a nice close-up view.
At any rate, the light was quickly fading and I had already sketched in everything but the moon in my two small paintings. The simple compositions were designed to focus on a prominent moon rise, but since no "prominent" moon was forth coming, I improvised and went with just the Super Moon look (much more dramatic than what we actually saw) but then only you who read this blog will know what really happened.
Still, fun was still had by all including my wife and daughter who came along with our neighbor from across the street -- it was a rare event to behold and a good memory was made as summer changed to autumn in the Pacific Northwest.
nice impasto. Paynelike.
ReplyDeleteLove the story too.
ReplyDeleteLove the story too.
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