Two Nocturnes

"Full Moon over Grand Traverse Bay" -- plein air field study -- oil on birch panel 10x8" -- Margie

Guyot

"Lights over Northport" -- plien air field study -- oil on birch panel 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

My plein air setup on Rex Beach

At the beginning of September we had a full moon.  Since I'm an early-riser by nature, it was no trouble at all to drive down to Rex Beach and paint @ 5AM.  I waited until that hour so the moon would be in a better position over the lake.  OK, I admit it: I pre-mixed a dark and a medium tone in the studio, where I could see what I was doing.  For the most part, I was able to paint solely by the light of the full moon.  Once in a while I had to turn on the flashlight.  The second painting happened about 5:45 AM, when things were starting to lighten up a little.  The sun still hadn't risen and everything was a deep gray.