Falling in Love With a Scene

Hot Summer Day    12"x12" oil

Some years ago, I spent a lot of time at a state park that included a farm, and most important, a large pond. On one side of the pond was a small road and the barn, and the other side had a few trees with distant woods behind it. I fell in love with that scene.
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Farm Pond Pines    6”x6” - first plein air oil

I painted it first one June afternoon after work. It was lovely just to be there, and to paint out of doors (en plein air) was a special treat. I enjoyed that so much that I came back again, a week later, set up down the shore a bit to create a new composition, and painted it again.
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Farm Pond Pines Reflections    6”x6” - second plein air oil

Both of those paintings were small, 6”x6”. I wanted to go bigger, like 12”x12”, four times the area. I painted that one indoors, using photos and the second painting for reference. It’s called Hot Summer Day, and it’s at the top of this email.
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Farm Pond Pines Winter - digital painting

In the winter I used the first painting as a starting point for a snow scene, which I painted with my finger on my iPad using Art Rage. That was so much fun, and the cleanup consisted of turning off the iPad.

Why was I so attracted to this scene? Partly because of the enjoyment I had painting there. The easy walk from the parking lot, and convenience of the location to my house helped. But mostly it was the simple beauty of the outdoors, and the compositional options with the irregularly spaced trees, the bush at the waters edge and the lovely reflections they made in the water.

As I travel, always on the lookout for scenes to paint, it's a lucky day when I find one that I can fall in love with!