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"May Morning Above the Potomac" 24x30 oil on linen (in progress)

  This may be the longest spell between posts since beginning this blog!  Everything is fine and I have been painting but I have also been very involved with a fundraiser for the Art League of Alexandria. I spent a lot of time on the computer with emails and FB posts.  Those generated a lot of emails in my inbox that required answers and I tend to do such things at night. By the time I finished I wasn't much in the mood for posting anything.

      Above is my current studio painting after today's work.  There isn't much more to do and tomorrow I intend to finish it.  The rocks need some detailing and possibly I will add a little variation in the foreground.  I am on the Virginia side of the Potomac looking towards Maryland and right around that bend is one of my favorite painting locals, Wide Water.  You would have seen those paintings from the beach at Wide Water if you read my posts last October.  Actually what you are seeing in the background of those paintings is that island to the right.

Usually I show you the paintings as they progress but this time I will work backwards instead.  The image  below is of the painting the first day I started adding color.

Second day of work on "May Morning...."

First day of work on "May Morning...."

      Here is the start up.  To the left, sitting on top of the large painting is the plein air painting I did last October from this site above the Potomac.  I used this painting as my study  for the larger, 24x30 painting on linen.  I prefer to paint the season I am in.  It feels strange to do otherwise. I used what I know about this site as well as what I can see just outside the studio windows to create an early May morning.  Above the painting on the easel is a drawing made from the plein air study where I made some adjustments such as eliminating the tall, decaying underbrush that appears in the plein air piece.  I have also done the sketch on graph paper which gives me an easy reference for placement of forms on the canvas.  I used yellow ochre as the underpainting and sketched the scene in with my brush and darker ochre.  Taped to the easel are images of earlier paintings I have done from this place just to give me more reference material.  From here I moved on to the above.
   http://www.jeanschwartzpaintings.com/

P.S. The fundraiser was a HUGE success and we far exceeded our expectations:)