Ask any watercolor landscape painter what attracts them to a particular scene, and more often than not, light is the answer. So what happens when an artist is faced with a landscape endowed with especially dramatic effects — a spectacularly colored sky reflected in the water below, a mysterious moonlit alleyway, or a tree-lined sidewalk brought to life by the play of dappled light? Three artists give us a glimpse of the magic that can be achieved.
![](https://americanwatercolor.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/SWhite-McDonough-Hall-11x14-wc-plein-air.jpeg)
![](https://americanwatercolor.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Susan-Lynn_First-Light.jpg)
“I painted this piece while participating in the Borrego Plein Air Invitational in the Anzo-Borrego Desert in California,” says Susan Lynn. “The first moments of sunrise lit up the Santa Rosa Mountains with striking reds, oranges, and purples, in sharp contrast to the still-shaded desert floor. The brilliant color, however, only lasted about 20 to 30 minutes, so even this small watercolor required two painting sessions for me to capture the glow.”
![](https://americanwatercolor.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/BrienneMBrown_Loss-But-Not-Gone.jpg)
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