"A Favorite Spot" is Complete

"A Favorite Spot" 12x16 oil on linen panel

     Well, it is sort of complete. As I look at it here I see some things that could be improved so I may have one more "tweaking" session before I declare it completely finished.  I think getting it out of range of my brush for a couple of days would be a good idea as I don't want it too finished.  Even though I worked from a photo of that particular day painting with my friends I made sure I kept it loose as though it were being painted on site. 
      A few posts back I addressed the issue of working from photographs and to summarize..I don't have a problem with it so long as they are my photographs and I had the actual experience.  When I work from them I enlarge them and tape them up where I can see them and approach the painting as if I were on site.  In this particular photo my easel was shown in the foreground.  In the beginning I was going to include it but I edited it out in favor of this which I think makes for a better composition. 

"Early October at Wide Water" 12x16 oil on panel

    To the left is the painting I painted that day.  In the painting above my friend Susan is facing up river with her back to us, Bobbi is on her camp stool painting the cliffs on the other side of the Potomac.  My easel was placed in the foreground and I was facing down river where the water hit some rocks and became more agitated. 
      Everything looks peaceful doesn't it? Not for long!  Shortly after we started our paintings that beach turned into a mini Coney Island!  Remembering the morning brings a smile to my face because it was pretty funny.  It started with a bunch of kayakers launching at the spot shown here to the left and they were practicing their rolls with much splashing and churning up of mud.  So much for peaceful reflections in the water.  They were followed by a couple of Labs chasing sticks thrown into the river by their owners.  One exuberant pooch decided to come bounding over to Bobbi who got off her stool in time to fend him off.  A second later and she would have been sent sprawling off her stool and her painting would have flown off the easel. As it was she got a good soaking.  Not to be outdone were several pole boarders.  I honestly don't know what the official term is but they wear a lot of neoprene gear and they stand on their boards and pole their way up stream.  This paint out was a great lesson in how to commit to your painting early and stick with it.  Tranquility was not to be had that day!  It was a Saturday so we were sure to choose a Friday the next time we painted there two weeks later. That day all was serene:)
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