Lagoon
16"x12"
Oil on RayMar Canvas

It's been a while since I felt the special feeling you get when painting something challenging but that with which you have a special connection. Those of you who paint know what I'm talking about... it's hard to describe, but in a way while painting you are "beyond" painting.

I won't say that this painting painted itself. I didn't quite reach that plane, but I was smiling while I was painting. Although I used reference photos, I also did some planning and changing. I remembered the elegance of this beautiful bird.. either a grey egret or a heron, as it crept up to the water about to pounce upon its next meal. It was a special moment. I tried to look through some books (Gruppe and Macpherson) and thought a great deal about all I've tried to learn from my friends and teachers about creating a painting that is well conceived and attractive to others.

I looked at my first version (bottom right) and decided to try to make it more interesting by adding thicker paint both in the foreground grasses and in the sky. I looked at the image in black and white to see if I had enough variation with value and whether the value patterns made sense. I tried to add some interesting color to the scene... it was there, but I enhanced it a bit. I wanted to make sure the aerial perspective sent the far grasses and bushes back but I also wanted to emphasize the lovely colors of the weeds and grasses in the middle ground.

There was lots of pushing and pulling of paint, but in the end I was still smiling. I'm not sure if any of you can see the changes I made, but I think they added interest to the painting.

Happy painting to all of you. May you always smile while you paint!

I'd also love it if this painting makes the viewer smile.