Early November – Creekside

A gorgeous, warm, sunny day here! I’d been wanting to get down to the creek to paint this view for weeks. Yardwork has been taking precedence, but I think I’m pretty well-prepared for blowing snow. I took advantage of the fantastic wooden walkway the guys built for me this summer. SO much better to be able to set up my easel on solid, even ground for a change! There are lots of trees down and branches everywhere, just waiting to trip an old artist tottering about! Two of my cats, Picasso and Bernie, hung around next to me most of the time, meowing, begging for treats and wanting to be adored.

I normally paint plein airs on smaller panels, like 8×10″ or 8×16″, but I had a hankering to try something larger today. Here’s how things looked in the beginning when I was trying to draw things in. Notice the shadows falling across the panel. This is the horrid stage where I’m not totally sure things will turn out favorably!