Artist’s Notes on
Cabernet Afternoon

These notes are written to you to give you a sense of my thoughts and feelings during the creation of this painting.

This is a major painting for me. I have studied the great "Luminists" for years and this is in their style...with a reverence for light and the details of the effect of light. This is with special respect for Albert Bierstadt...the great one! The joy of detailed luminism is in the effect of light on every part of the painting.

When I finished the basics of this painting - such as the mountain, foothills, trees, and vines, I then was able to really get to the fun of the painting - the light. I painted light on each vine, each leaf in some foreground detail, each tree, the sky, and the mountain. The real power of this kind of painting is not the detail...but the light and what it does over the entire scene!!!

This scene is of a Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard and Mt. St. Helena in Napa Valley. This view is from highway 29 near Calistoga. The sun is setting on the left, the light is changing from white to orange, the fog is rolling in, and the vines are still warm but about to lose their precious light and heat for the day.

The  painting is done in layers and took me more than six months to complete with one major revision of the vine color.  I used basic greens and often transparent greens on the vines and trees...layer over layer. Finally, I painted a thin transparent orange over most of the painting to give the feeling of the late day light.

It is about the light!

I am pleased with what I have now each time I look at the original.

I will rest for time before I start a new vineyard painting and I do not think there will ever be another painting of the Valley like this one.

Stephen Luce