Across The River, In Process

To any family or close friends that have been to our family's summer house on the Sassafras River, the general theme of this should be familiar.

In order to fit it onto a standard ratio rectangular canvas (11 by 14 in this case) and not a long flat panorama canvas (11 by 22 or similar), I have had to squeeze this into a view more compressed than exists in reality. The old Decker farm (of Black and Decker fame) would be farther off to the left, and the house on the bluff at right would be further off to the right, with the intermediate trees-and-bluff section being much broader.

So, it's a rough representation, and done from memory. It seems my digital picture library is mostly devoid of pictures from the River, and I am too lazy to dig out the big box of actual printed pictures that is in the basement somewhere. I hope.

Anyway, this is a simple Stage 1 of an "Across The River" painting. There are many rivers in the world, but to us there is only one The River. Basic color blocking is in place, with details to follow.

Across the River (oils, 11 by 14 canvas panel, in process)

This took an hour. Which I only mention because I am consciously making the effort to paint quickly and not fuss over the details...

Stage 2 will require finishing the clouds, detailing the grassy areas to make them less monochrome, highlighting of the foreground wooded sections to saturate the greens and make them pop, cleaning up the few buildings, and maybe highlighting the waves in the foreground to get them closer to that Sassafras brownish-green color. 

At the end it will need a red channel marker buoy somewhere in the middle...