Still on my way – Plein air at Sope Creek

I‘m so very happy to paint almost every weekend  but it’s really not enough to get to my goal of being a first rate professional. I need to find more time and plan the time I have better. This weekend I spent both days frustrated by a knack of not knowing when to quit. This may be tied to some new practices I have developed with the use of a slower drying medium and a new smaller brush. I like the extra time the slower medium gives me mostly when cleaning my brushes and gear, the fast drying ones tend to ruin brushes with a vengeance and I’m tired of buying new brushes all the time. Truth be told if I was just a bit neater and developed some better habits than I would not have to worry about such things. The slower time have forced me to use much more paint though and I think in the long run this is good. I love the thicker surfaces of my most recent work. Very lush and sexy.

Enough on this. Saturday was the supposed to be the last good day for Fall color here in Georgia and I wanted to get some on my canvas. So I decided to hit the river where the trees have had a lot more moisture and hopefully more leaves. I cut down through Cobb County towards a park right at the intersection of 285 and the Chattahoochee but on my way down I drove past Sope Creek Park and decided to see if it would work. This is a very nice park with the creek and the ruins of a paper mill built in the 1800’s. But it’s a long hike and I have about 15 lbs. of gear—not a lot, but nothing you want to explore with. So I hiked down —more than a mile and was rewarded by a very nice view of rust red and yellow leafed trees along a rocky creek bed. I set up as soon as I got there and as the day progressed and the light changed I was able to notice the ruins of the paper mill on the other shore. I was satisfied with my view though —a small slice of the creek shore with a twisted tree and quite bit of color. I was not satisfied with the time I spent —nearly four hours to get to a point where I was satisfied. I even scraped off several areas and repainted them — a technique that is a must with the thicker paint. Finally I finished and loaded up my gear for the long walk back up to the parking lot. Unfortunately this painting fell off my easel at home last night and got dog hair all over it. I touched it up but It does not have the crispness of the original.