Mount Saint Helena from Alexander Valley

I was in Healdsburg last weekend and had two free hours so I drove up to Lytton Springs Road and then cut up Geyserville Ave looking for a nice landscape to paint. After a short exploration I found a place to pull over near Vinwood Cellars that had a good elevated view of the valley. It was a lovely afternoon to paint but I had to work fast as the shadow from the mountains behind me was creeping up fast. When the panel falls into shadow I can’t match the colors any more and that’s the end of it.

oil painting
9x12in oil on panel