Summer on the Lake

The heat is unrelenting, no rain for weeks on end, and the algae bloom is thick.  But at certain times of day, when the warm sun is bouncing off the rock cliff, the water takes on a warm glow and contrasts nicely with the cool cobalt blue of the reflected sky.  The colors are quite different from just a couple of months ago, though different times of day will yield different results.

Dark Profile

Continuing to investigate the use of darks in oil paint, I mix thalo green with alizarin crimson to get the dark for the background, and then lighten some thalo for the green of the cap.  The photo snap does not do justice to the richness of the combination, but I think I like this dark as much as the dark from combining ultramarine blue with burnt sienna.