Saturday, August 03, 2013

Saturday Plein Air - Three Creeks Metro Park

Yet another rainy Saturday morning! I almost stayed home, but since I already had my stuff in the car, I drove down to see who showed up. There were six of us, and soon after we arrived the rain stopped. It stayed overcast and drippy, but the temperature was perfect. The others liked this view also, which is not evident from the parking lot, as the rise with pines hides the 'turtle pond' from view. They suggested we put this site on the schedule for next year with the hope that it will be sunny. There are many nice views to paint here. The path goes all around the pond and I did not get more photos.



 





I'd visited this site in March when I was scouting out new locations for our group. It was really cold that day, so I only stopped long enough to take a few snapshots. I didn't even walk over to where the three creeks meet (and again forgot to today!), because I really liked this area under the pines. I've always had a thing for pine trees, especially those like these, which are mature enough to have an open area underneath with the soft pine needles blanketing the ground. In March, I imaged that this would be a great place to escape the hot sun of August, so I scheduled it with this in mind. Surprise that it is now August and our temperatures are more like early spring in the low 70's and rainy. Even so, I really wanted to paint here, overlooking the pond.


The path to the right caught my eye and I setup underneath the canopy of pines. I put up my painting shade umbrella just to keep the dripping off my head. It was a bit dark to paint, so later I had to move my gear out in the light to do my final adjustments.








2 comments:

Nancy Van Blaricom said...

Ok Nancy, miss neat as can be, what do I see on your easel? It looks like a smaller palette holding your pigments and I see no paint on your easel. Just curious as usual.

Love the painting you got from that scene. You have a great eye for composition.

Nancy L. Vance said...

Ha! If you look up three photos from the bottom, you'll see the working area on the painting box, before I cleaned it off. The other plastic thing is something I've been experimenting with. I don't paint regularly enough to keep a pile of oil paint on my palette, because it will dry out, or I paint in a different painting box depending which location...so this is a homemade 'palette garage'. Google that term and you'll see a new item which is made to keep paint fresh with clove oil within a plastic carrier. I always try to use something I already have instead of buying. This was a little container I already had, and I find I am not as stingy with paint since it is easy to save the leftover without just wiping it off and wasting it.