Sunvelope (Sunset, Thursday, 30 June 2011)

William Theodore Van Doren, SUNVELOPE (Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

Not Entirely Forgotten (Sunset, Tuesday, 28 June 2011)

William Theodore Van Doren, NOT ENTIRELY FORGOTTEN (Sunset/Twilight from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

After five hours of storms, the clouds had an after-party, and went through a dizzying array of changes. At times the sky looked like a Turner, then like a Tiepolo, then there was a curious green layer of cloud, and what had been gold turned orange-pink. At some point I had to give up trying to absorb it all – try to forget and just paint.

Bright Spots (Sunset, Monday, 27 June 2011)

William Theodore Van Doren, BRIGHT SPOTS (Sunset/Twilight from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

It’s possible that an ancient tube of slightly separated zinc white – the only white I had left – was responsible for the thin, almost rubbed texture of this painting, but whatever it was, it seemed to work for this particular sky.

A Cloudy Blue Sky (Sunset, Sunday, 26 June 2011)

William Theodore Van Doren, A CLOUDY BLUE SKY (Sunset/Twilight from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

The sky was all shades of gray, with scattered rain. I decided to render most of the gray clouds as shades of blue, and turned the mountains from pale blue to gray.

Solstice in Obscurity (Sunset, Tuesday, 21 June 2011)

William Theodore Van Doren, SOLSTICE IN OBSCURITY (Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

North Light (Sunset, Monday, 20 June 2011)

William Theodore Van Doren, NORTH LIGHT (Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

With multiple blankets of cloud draped everywhere else, I sighted even farther north than the near-solstice sun would normally dictate, over nearby Piney Mountain.