http://www.outdoorpainter.com / August-September 2019 51
changequickly,I putthesuninfirstandworked
outwardfromthere.I putinallthethingsI loved
aboutthecolorsaroundthesunwithmyknife.
ThenI didn’thavetoworrytoomuch,because
therestof theelementswouldstayaround
longer.”
Heroptometristmightnotlikeit,butin
generalPolylovespaintingintothesun.(She
doesn’tlookdirectlyat it,of course,as thiscould
severelydamagehereyes,butshesetsupfacing
thelight.)Shesayssheespeciallylikespainting
theeffectof sunlightcomingthroughtheleaves
of trees,whichcanbe a tricky motif. She has
somesuggestions.PAINTINGINTOTHELIGHT
First,artistsneedtoremindthemselvesthatthe
sunappearswhiteinitscenter,andgainscoloras
thelightshinesoutfromitscircularshape.One
canthinkof thecolorsas concentricringsaround
thesun.“It’sonlywhiterightinthemiddle,”
saysPoly.“Fromthere,as yougooutwardit goes
yellow,thenorange-red,thenshadesof reds,and
thenshadesof pinks.If youthinkaboutthat
sequencewhendoinga sunset,it reallyhelps.
Yes,therearelittlepiecesreflectingandrefract-
ingaround,butthatprogressionholdstrue.And
thenoutsideof that,youneedsomethingagainst
thesuntomakeit pop,likea violet.”
Next,theartistmustcontemplatehowdif-
ferenttheleaveslookwhentheyareinfrontof
thebrightestlighthumansencounter(outsideof
lasers).“Youhavetoutterlyforgetthatleavesare
green,”saystheartist.“There’sa lotof warmin
theleavesintheareaaroundthesun,thenthey
starttocooloffas theygetfartheraway.You’ll
haveredandgoldenorangeintheleaves.They
aren’tdark.Theyglowwiththebrightwarm
colorsaroundthem,wherethewhitepartof the
suncomesthrough.It’ssimpleobservation—
justlookat thesuncomingthroughtreesand
youwillseeit.
“Reallywatchyouredges—it’shardtopull
offthatkindof scenewithhardedges.It takesa
whiletogetit down.Justremember,paintingis
mostlywhatyouseeandpartlywhatyouknow.
Paintmaybe 90 percentofwhatyouactually
observe.Andremember,youalsohavetopaint
theair.Theatmospherewillsoftenandcool
downas youmoveawayfromthesun.Three
yearsago,I decidedI wasgoingtofigureout
howtopaintthosekindsof effectsandreallynail
theminmywork.”
Andthatshedid.PolywontheGrandPrizeat
PleinAirEastonin 2016forOrigin, a 20x 20-inch
painting that depicts the sun through trees.(TOP)SummerLight, 2017,oil, 20 x 20in., collection the artist, pleinair•(ABOVE) Joy in the Morning,
2015, oil, 12 x 16 in., private collection, plein air