Lighthouse Winter Sun | 12×16 | Oil on Linen Panel
Inspiration for Lighthouse Winter Sun
Lighthouse Winter Sun makes the fifth piece focusing on this towering Pensacola landmark. (View the other paintings under “Historic Pensacola*” series.) I chose the angle specifically to incorporate the little shed and fences. I believe these sorts of foreground elements add interest and bring the eye into the focal point. This side-view of the keeper’s house also appears far less frequently in photographs of the lighthouse. When I’m painting a subject in bright sunlight, I’m always amazed by the colors in shadows. Overall, the brilliant blue sky “fills in” shadows and so they take on an overtly blue quality. The the color of whatever the shadow is falling upon also influences the blueness. However, when sunlight is bouncing off the ground and onto an overhanging object (like the eaves of a roof) then the shadow takes on slightly more of an orange tone.
Pensacola Lighthouse Landmark
Just 10 years ago, the Pensacola Lighthouse amounted to a small side curiosity for visitors to the Naval Aviation Museum. However with oversight from the Pensacola Lighthouse Association and Executive Director Jon Hill, things changed quickly! The lighthouse has become an iconic attraction in its own right; drawing thousands and thousands of visitors each year. Couples hold weddings in the courtyard, the Navy’s Blue Angel regularly roar overhead, special events are hosted, and climbers eagerly conquer the tower’s 177 steps! Learn more about the Pensacola Lighthouse.