Parched

One of the great things about painting outdoors is the results can serve as a kind of visual journal. Sometimes I do go back and review how the world looked in the past. 

"Fort Des Moines Park, Near Sunset," oil on panel, 9x12

Last summer was dry and hot, and this oil from last September shows how the grasses had gone gold-brown and dormant. This painting was done as a demo at a plein air paint out held in a south Des Moines park. 

A group of around a dozen spent a couple of hours painting around a small lake in a former military reserve. I did this as a kick-off to the event. A storm was approaching and the late slanting sun caught the cloud tops and turned them bright. Alas, the promised rainfall was pretty sparse.