Each moon cycle is a duration of 29.5 days. Typically there are 27 nights in a moon cycle which in which a moon appears that is visible enough to observe and paint. In the first night of the moon cycle the moon seems to get lost in the last light of the sun. I don't see it. On the last night or morning of the moon cycle the final crescent also gets lost in the sunrise. I often set aside the 27 nights of a moon cycle to observe and document the activity of the moon. If it is clear all 27 of those nights and or mornings, I will have 27 very visible moons. There almost always is is some cloud activity during that time and this becomes an integral part of the procedure. I work with the conditions that arise. The following painting is a result of the observation and documentation of a June Moon Cycles over Lake Michigan . I spent the first 14 nights of the moon cycle on the eastern shore of the lake, viewing the moon setting over the water each night. As the moon became full I shifted to the western shore to look east over the water to view the waning phases. Drawings were made and notes taken during the observation time and the painting, a 5 panel piece is made in retrospect.
June Moon Cycle over Lake Michigan, Panels 1-5, The nights are laid out chronologically from right to left on each panel. The decision to do this was made because when I viewed the moon sets, looking west from the eastern shore ,the moon's activity shifted slightly to the south or to my left each night and then when viewing the moon rises looking east from the western shore, the moons activity shifted slightly to the north or again to my left each night.The piece is meant to be viewed chronologically and hopefully in the round