As a landscape artist, I find inspiration everywhere, especially in the spring when nature is waking up from her long winter sleep. A lone kingfisher, a raucous flock of Canadian geese, and a pair of mallards in flight all inspire me with their wordless wisdom about movement, color, life and form. Dappled paths, sparkling water, the long shadows of mountains at dusk, and the first rays of sunlight in the trees at dawn often make me rush to pick up my paintbrush.
I sit in the pine grove overlooking our pond, watching an osprey wheeling in three slow circles. At last he settles down in his favorite tree at the shallow end of the pond to start the work of spotting and catching his breakfast.
Just like the osprey, I realize I too must slowly circle the artistic vision I wish to create until I find the center of interest, then settle down to the work of making value sketches and thumbnails before I put paint to canvas.
What color will I use to depict the bright spring sky? Cerulean (literally, "sky") blue, which leans toward green, or a rich cobalt for a soft sky that is cool at the top and warmer near the horizon?
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