This is my very first attempt at on-site painting. I set up my easel with a fairly limited palette and sketched what I thought would work on my 9×12″ canvas panel. The light changed so fast! The lit tree in the river was barely visible in the shadows when I first started. Two hours later it was almost the highlight of the scene.

I plan to work on this again and add the darks and finish the colors. The photo reference is so different that I might take a chance on not looking at it at all.

Here is another shot of the piece when I got home. It has less glare.

Since this is my very first plein air painting and Van Gogh is said to have finished 2000 paintings in his short lifetime, I think I will be patient before I judge myself. Not that I suggest there is hope eventually someone will like my work, but that Van Gogh continued without much encouragement, and I should too. I thought of him, as I do a lot, as I tried to make my water swirl at the fallen log. Maybe when I go back to work on it I can convey more movement in the running river. I plan on returning to this same spot by the river until I get it right.