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There is subtle beauty in a gray day.  All the drama of light and shadow that excites and challenges plein air painters goes out the window. The painting becomes more about local color and atmosphere.  

  A few days ago a friend and I were desperate to get out of the house for a painting adventure.  The sky was leaden and low but it was dry.  With the cloud cover so thick the light stays pretty consistent for about 2 hours so there is not the mad dash to get the pattern of light and dark that is so necessary to paint sunlight.  On a gray day the color of the objects take on greater importance and the composition becomes more about flat shapes than light falling on form.  I was excited to paint this home at the side of Yates Cider Mill in Rochester.  The dark of the trees to the yellow tone of the home made a nice contrast but what was surprising was all the color in the foreground.  The fallen leaves left a dark pattern of murky sienna on the hillside.  There were spots of snow that appeared violet and yellow from the atmosphere.  The grass, confused from our warm weather, refused to become dormant and retained a yellow-green cast. 

When I started painting I was standing by the back of the car.  Once the sky let loose with a mixture of snow and rain I retreated to the back with the hatchback as a roof.  The rain began to come down heavily and filled my palette with water.  After about an hour of trying to mix oil and water I gave up and finished the painting in the warm dry studio.