Finished

October 19th, 2013
Cox Reservation, Essex MA
Oil on Canvas, 18 x 24 in

When I began this painting, the sky was bright blue and the sun was high – as a result, the bleached log was blue (as in the painting) from reflecting the sky. As the day wore on, the sky changed as did all the colors. I had the same struggle I keep having – I’m painting with the conscious intention of making it look fairly real, but I’ve chosen the scene because I love the rhythm I see in the design. You can’t serve two masters, as they say, and I keep getting torn between the literal and the ornamental – and making a mess. I was happy, though, taking this picture on site, that the color of the leaves (oak) is so well matched you can hardly tell where the painting ends and the ground begins. I’ve decided I may do 10 mins of work on it tomorrow, maximum. The worst thing I can do is overwork these things (see last week’s.)

NB- It is now Sunday, and I’ve decided to leave it as is. Yesterday David Curtis told me it was better than I thought, and that I should go home, get something to eat, get some sleep, and look at it again in the morning. I did, and I like it enough to not want to take the risk of “improving” it.