Night Lights On King Street (Alexandria, VA)

Right as we were anticipating a cold snap marking the end of Autumn, I carved out some gorgeous days (and one night) in Old Town Alexandria, VA to paint this vibrant town. I was finishing up one piece in the park by day, a few blocks from here ... stopping as the light faded. I knew my next two paintings ... two nocturnes would be standing in this spot ... looking up King Street just a step away from the Potomac River. Then, the second one painting a simple boat just by turning my easel 180 degrees.  The scenery was perfect. The lighting wasn't -- since with no street lamp close by, I was doing a lot of guesswork about just what color was on my brush, palette, canvas.

I always arrange my palette the same way ... with colors following a rainbow (essentially) on the left side of the palette, to the top (far side) and then down the right.  By remaining consistent, there's a good chance that what I mix ... even in the dark will be pretty close to correct. For instance, I'll pick up the right blue and yellow to make green ... but without the aid of proper light, it might be a little too turquoise (too much blue) or yellowish. Those tweaks can be taken care of away from my painting spot ... especially when being there has filled my head with color notes and memories. Thus, this is the tweaked version.