Stage 3 Knik River - Work up the mid ground

Mid Ground Area; Gravel, Main Trees, and the small trees on the right back.

Got to paint before the Football Games this morning.  Worked up the dark low treeline on the water in the distance.  Also added darks and lights to the gravel.  Worked up the right trees in the mid distance.  Then went to work on the main trees.  What fun to play with bright colors of fall.  

I have included a picture of the whole painting along with the picture I am working from.  I took this picture with my friend Don Kolstad when we were Plein Air Painting a few weeks ago.

 

Knik River - A Begining

Started a New Painting on Sunday - Sunday as I watched the football games in my studio I sketched out 5 paintings onto panels for painting.  Took most of the day to get them right.  I knew I wanted to start one and get a wash of color onto the panel.  Was a hard decision which one to start I like all the compositions.   But I decided since it was a Sunday and the image I was using was from a picture I tool Last Sunday. I would go ahead and work on this peaceful scene.  The view is towards the Chugach Mountains and Knik River in the distance.  this big flood plane area is a favorite for 4 wheelers, motocross bikes.  It was a nice hot fall day, I loved all the colors and how green the little pond was in the foreground.  The calm water shows the reflected colors of the trees so well.   I included the picture for you to see where I am taking the scene from.  This is just the start of the painting.  I just wanted to get a wash in for a reminder for me of the colors.  I intend to get the other paintings started also with washes then will work them up.  Not sure which will capture my desire as the artist, sometimes you are surprised which ones you can't leave alone.  Feels great to be painting again!!!