Eagle on the Bay

Cattails and Lunch 12x9 pastel available $40.00

Sometimes paintings come easily, and sometimes they will frustrate you until you're left with handfuls of hair.  I'll let you guess which category this one fell into.  I started with a plan that I thought was a great plan, I had chosen my colors before I started, I blocked in all the large areas, I did a wash for the water, blocked in the eagle  - then came the grasses.  Oh the grasses!  Nothing I did seemed to work - they just kept competing with everything else.  I lost count as to how many times I brushed them off and would start again.  Finally I decided to NOT follow the reference photo and "make up" my own.  There weren't any cattails in the reference photo, but I believe they were just what I was needing to complete this painting.

This was actually a class assignment that we had to do during class time - the assignment was to complete a painting that used a wash, line and blending.  I thought I chose a good reference photo because I could use a wash for the water, line for the grasses and blending for the log and the eagle. In the end, I think I'm pretty pleased with the final result.

Today, Zach (my son) and I are heading to Adkins Arboretum to do some plein air painting.  The Plein Air Painters of the Chesapeake Bay group that I'm a member of, visited this location on Tuesday, and I was not able to go with them.  So today we will head over there and hopefully complete something so I can be on track with the rest of the group.  If you live in the area and would like to join this group let me know.  They're a great bunch of people and always welcome newcomers and they have scheduled an end of the season show at one of our local art galleries.