Everglades Sunrise

Artist's Gallery

Sunrise in the Everglades

The river, dark from midnight sleep,

Now mirrors lines of radiant glow,

From morning clouds of brilliant gold,

That with the rising sun’s rays flow;

While leafy palms and cypress bows

Clad in magnificent attire

The ever-widening path of glass

On which advances the ball of fire.

Writing this poem was almost as fun as painting this dynamic scene from the Everglades. I started with the sky, putting down lots of yellow and white with a palette knife. It’s very textured, and almost glows! The cypress “knees” were done with a flat brush, then smudged with white. A double-loaded fan brush did good palm and cypress trees. I also used a fan brush for that interesting lichen hanging from the branches. The water is a striking progression from navy to lemon yellow; it’s so roughly blended that it looks almost impressionistic. This is my favorite picture from the acrylic book—I love the contrast between dark and light, close-up and far away. It would be something to see this sunrise in person!