Learning on location

 Each time I plein air paint, I TRY to focus on learning, not necessarily in painting a successful painting. Case in point: this afternoon nook of Nitro’s Ridenour Lake has fascinated me ever since I started walking the lake trails. This sunlit bank in contrast to the recessed shadow of the lake’s edge is alluring to the painter’s eye. The goal was to paint THAT, and I thought I had. However, after the photo was taken, I can see that darks  are simply not dark enough. In order to emphasize lights, darks need to be darkened.  The greens need to be darkened, tree trunks are too light, and the water is entirely too “orangey.” There was corrupt miscommunication between what I saw, what is actually there, and what my hands painted. The culprit was my brain.  My advice to myself : 1. Do not move on to another subject.

                                    2. Go back to Ridenour at the same time and paint the scene again.

                                    3. Do it RIGHT this time. This place is too pretty to do otherwise.