8 degrees with a wind chill of -5 this morning when I got up . Guess I won’t be riding my motorcycle today. Nor will I be painting outside either I suppose. I have painted out  in the cold before but it is hard to get the fingers to move in the way I want and the oil paint gets a bit thick to work with. Forget about watercolors.

I was doing a watercolor of a ranch house and barn up near Sheridan, WY one winter and I knew it was cold but the sun was shining and it felt warm. My clue that it was below freezing was that my watercolors kept sticking to the palette. I finally gave up and finished the painting sitting in my Suburban looking through the windshield with the engine on and heater running.