Ballston Beach is very popular, and during the middle of the day in the summer it is often crowded, so we would typically head down there closer to sunset. I did several late afternoon paintings here, but this is the only successful one. The sun would start going down and the light on the dunes would change from minute to minute. Between the time I would see the color, mix it on my palette, and place it on the painting surface the light would have changed.

This painting would not have been possible without the other failed paintings. The other paintings did not work because as the light changed I could not figure out how to make all the changes in light and color into a cohesive painting. In this piece, I took what I had observed from the previous sessions. The colors I had mentally stashed away so I knew how to combine them to create this painting. I painted on site and was able to work quickly, but I had premixed some of the colors on my palette to give myself a head start.