River and Bridge (Oil Bar Painting Day 4)

River and Bridge (Oil Bar Painting Day 4) Originally uploaded by randubnick

I finally went back to Red Brick today to work on this painting of the Merrimac River in Manchester, NH. (This is one of a series of paintings for a show in January.) It has been hard to get to the studio, between a hectic schedule and three major snowstorms in ten days, but in the meantime, I have been thinking about this painting, and so this morning I knew exactly what I wanted to do. First, I made one last adjustment in the angle of the shoreline. Once I had the angle right, I put some curves in the shoreline to make the water look less like a swimming pool and more like a river. I worked with the oil bars directly, mixing colors right on the painting, and adjusting the colors as I worked. Then I used my T-square to straighten out the railings of the bridge a bit. (The railings still need more work, and I will fix them next time.) Now I have the basic shapes and composition that I want for this painting. There are two options: clean the painting up as it is and call it finished, OR add clouds and reflections of clouds in the water (as in my posterized photo of Merrimac River from Bridge). The first option is tempting, not only because of the time pressure of the show in January, but because I like the painting as it is. But I also liked the effect of the clouds in the photo. I think what I try a digital version with an overlay of clouds to help me decide.