The Cowpasture River

The Cowpasture River, watercolor, 10"h x 14"w.

 

During my artist residency at the Red House, I really wanted to take a dip in the Cowpasture River, a beautiful stretch of this river flows through Amanda's farm. The Cowpasture is one of Virginia's cleanest rivers, and one of the sources of the much larger James River that flows through Richmond and so much of our state's history.

I explored many other places in the area before finally getting around to painting the Cowpasture River. The Sunday before a tremendous thunderstorm struck. I later heard that the rain fell at a rate of two inches an hour! The river rose so high that three of Amanda's beach chairs were swept downstream, never to be found again! 

The following Sunday afternoon, with more normal water levels, I felt it was safe to explore the river. The water was a bit colder than I had expected, so I settled for just wading rather than full immersion, and then started my painting. 

 

The Cowpasture River.

The afternoon was very warm, and soon the shade moved so that I was in the full sun, trying to shade the painting with my body. Somehow, the paper in my sketchbook (it was the last blank sheet) didn't seem to be working as usual--my washes were covered with specks all over, and the paper wasn't absorbing the water normally. Could it be that tree sap or debris on the surface was making the paper act differently? I couldn't explain it, but I was having the hardest time trying to get the paint to cover the paper.

I was about to give up and call it a day, when it occurred to me, why not lay down the darkest wash I could over the trees and shadows, and then go back in to lift out the lighter branches? This change of approach really helped, although the near foliage became a bit more blueish-green than I had intended. There was nothing to do but go with it, and echo the same shades for the shadows on the water. The result is a painting with lots of mood and mystery, which I really like.

Painting on Amanda's little beach.

Amanda loved the painting too, so I've agreed to give it to her. A few days later, I painted another one for myself. This one is in a new sketchbook, which has a different brand of paper. It handles differently from the paper in my old sketchbook.

The Cowpasture River II, watercolor, 14" x 10"

This second painting has a very different mood--sunny and bright, more open. The clump of trees overhanging the water isn't as dominant, and doesn't influence the mood as much as in the first painting. Amanda came by and took this photo of me as I was finishing the painting.

The Cowpasture River is such a lovely place! I hope to visit it again soon.