Burdell at Dusk

I am captivated by Mount Burdell, the small mountain in Novato at the northernmost point of Marin County. I hike there, sketch from a distance, and have painted it many times. In a way, it is my version of Monet's Rouen Cathedral or Cezanne's Mount Ste. Victoire. With the ever changing light, there are always new colors that spring up in my mind. Recently when watching a setting sun, I imagined how the various colors that make up sun light and shade, when expanded into their own "patches", could become powerful shapes on their own.

When I originally sketched the view, I included the Buck Institute, a dramatic modern architecture on the side of the barren hill. A friend suggested that I include my original sketches in posts to show how the final paintings veer from the sketches. As you can see from the thumbnail to the right, I eliminated the Buck building (not that I didn't like the bright white glint of the setting sun off the triangular facade, that will come in another painting), and emphasized the color possibilities in light and shadow.

You can also see how the perspective has changed: flattened and slightly raised on the vertical. As is often the case in my work, both the original sketch and the finished piece each have unique qualities.