#2086 "Sunset Convective Shelves"

From April 2018...

A convective towering cumulus was approaching Singleton Lake from the west. The dark shelf cloud was evident on the western horizon which gave the cumulus congestus away. The atmosphere is a fluid and what goes down typically goes up. The unstable air mass of the cold low pressure area allowed moist air to ascend until condensation of the contained water vapour resulted in the cold precipitation process. Further condensation and coalescence resulted and precipitation started falling dragging air parcels with it. The rain and these air parcels strike the earth. The rain soaks in but the air parcels spread outward much like the circular waves formed when a drop hits the surface of a pond.

A shelf cloud is formed when the moist air near the ground is lifted by these shock waves. Sometimes new convection develops on these shelf clouds that spread outward from the initial convection. The white area is typically the rainfall portion of the convective cloud.

Notice that I included some of the secondary convective elements on the top of the shelf cloud. The southwesterly winds were stronger aloft so the cloud elements appeared to be drifting from right to left as the precipitation falls into the lighter winds at lower levels.
I was interested in trying to capture the tumultuous circulations in this everyday cloud. The variations in colour and tone are subtle but significant to breathing life into the cloud.

I am still playing with those really rough masonite panels. There are some benefits to the rough texture that really grabs on to the oils. In addition there is no danger in trying to get too detailed. The rough panel is very hard on the brushes though.