Swirling River (Oil Bar Painting Day 2)

Swirling River (Oil Bar Painting Day 2) Originally uploaded by randubnick

This is a painting in progress, based on the photo I posted yesterday. I am using oil bars to paint the current of the Merrimac River, near a little dam near Manchester, New Hampshire. This is how the painting looked after the second day's painting (January 2). It is getting harder to keep track, because at this point, I am working on three paintings at once, trying to get them all ready for a show to be hung next week. Anyway, this version shows the correction I made in the perspective. I made the pattern of the swirls in the water more consistent with a more horizontal plane, from the viewpoint of looking across and down at the river from the shore (as in the photo). You can see some purple lines in the painting that I put there to guide me as I work, because it is easy to get lost in a painting like this. The lines won't show in the finished painting, because I will blend the purple in more. But at this point, the lines are helpful as I figure out the movement of the current, and the placement of light and shadow in the painting.