OVER CAST DAY ON MOUND WOOD CHANNEL

11 x 14" Oil

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As the rain pelted the roof of the shelter house on Mound Wood Channel, I set up to paint this almost dreary day at Indian Lake. 

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While I was setting up, protected under that shelter house, Dennis ventured into the rain.  He got a bit wet this day, but it was worth it! Because of the rain, there were no boats in the channel, so the fish were happy to accommodate Dennis's bait! He brought home a nice catch.

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This was the scene in front of me, along the channel at Mound Wood.

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I quickly drew a sketch on the canvas. Easy to do, as there was no wind.

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This painting was challenging in the sense that capturing that misty, overcast atmosphere required me to do a more intense study of the local colors. And, then, I had to mix those colors. At this point, I concentrated mostly on the green mixes. This was a new and delightful experience because of my new limited palette.

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Next, I put in that dreary sky and softened the greens. Everything took on a softer look.

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Still trying to maintain the soft edges and muted colors, I added more details on the buildings, on the tree limbs, and began painting the water.  For many of these mixes, I took advantage of my tube of grey. That helped to mute the colors. And, to ensure the misty day was portrayed, I used soft brush strokes, and very few hard edges. At this point, the rain had stopped and boats were beginning to line up on the loading ramp. So, even though the painting was not finished, we knew fishing was done for the day. We headed home (to a delicious fish dinner). I planned to finish this painting easily in the STUDIO. 

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NOT IN THE STUDIO

 

Yes, I decided to paint on location instead of the studio. We returned to this same channel on another over cast day. It's always best to paint on location instead of the studio. Painting in natural light instead of from a photo is always better.

Thank you for following along!

See you next time,

Donna