Clearing Sky Over Mattawoman Creek, oils on canvas panel, 9" x 12"The day was overcast but looked promising: it wasn't raining and a sunny afternoon had been predicted. The drive down to Indian Head was pleasant in the morning cool. I met the other six or eight artists at the Mattawoman Creek Art Center, and one of them, Barbara, suggested painting from the deck of a maintenance building a short walk from the MCAC--it was perfect, elevated enough to offer a panoramic view of the creek.
We shared this perch but painted entirely different subjects. She focused on the dock and boats in front of us while I chose a far view with the creek flowing around a point of land with a tiny island. The sky above was clearing with quite a bit of blue showing above the clouds, so this seemed a point of departure. In the critique afterwards someone pointed out my val-hue of the far bank of the Potomac is not right--its blue makes it appear like distant mountains rather than the opposite shore of the river, and I have to agree. I would also have liked to get a better color for the water, specially the shadows on the water should have been more greenish-brown. Still, in doing this I gained some useful practice for dealing with water using vertical and horizontal brushstrokes for a shimmery effect.
Mattawoman Creek Marsh, oils on canvas panel, 14" x 11"After lunch and crits the majority of the artists left. Two others stayed to continue working on their paintings in the afternoon. I decided to set up near them and start on another painting of the marsh. The light changed gradually from overcast to sunny, so I tried to maintain an in-between color key.
It was almost five o'clock by the time I got my painting this far--all the others had left by then. In the afternoon heat after spending most of the day on my feet, I was exhausted and ready to call it a day. As I was packing up a fisherman with a most amusing umbrella hat walked by, and I asked him if he would consent to having his picture taken. He was kind enough to agree. I think this photo may make a wonderful painting.
