Working from observation in the open air is my favorite mode of operation.  The French call it 'plein-air' painting.  Even on vacation, while my family enjoys floating in the water, napping and walking along the shore, I paint.  Some pieces are quick and observational,   the sky, the surf and the sand mesh together into a rainbow of blues and greens and yellows and browns.  As I work, brush in hand, the light shifts so quickly in the surf that the resulting painting is more of an impression, a collection of observations into one painting.