Snag in the Swamp

I’d been eyeing this for months. Finally I decided to paint it. I’d recently become acquainted with the artwork on Jamie Wyeth, and he loved painting stuff like this. As a former music major, I hadn’t heard of him — but now I’m enraptured.…

Here’s how I started out this afternoon. Just lightly drew in the basic composition. I like to draw it in lightly so it’s easier to correct. I always use a little “view finder” when laying in the composition. That was a trick I learned in a workshop with the great landscape painter Clyde Aspevig. Before I knew about viewfinders, half the time I’d end up running the composition off the page.

Next I started daubing in some of the darkest areas:

Then I started filling in colors of the fallen trees.

I suppose instead of filling in the fallen tree colors, I could have painted in the green grass areas. Sometimes I alternate blocking in large areas.

Then I finally turned to the greens. It’s back in my swamp and they’re always very well-watered, lush and well, green!

If I hadn’t had this boardwalk built, there would be no way I could possibly get back here. The grass grows 7 feet high and the ground is super-mushy and littered with all kinds of fallen trees.

“Snag in the Swamp” — plein air field study in oil on wood panel 16×12″ by Margie Guyot