Reflections (Oil Bar Painting as of July 19

Reflections (Oil Bar Painting as of July 19, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I worked on this painting again this morning. I am using oil bars to paint this scene, loosely based on a photo that I took at Bradley Palmer State Park last summer. (The reference photo is posted here June 14.) This morning, I concentrated on the reflections of the trees in the water, especially the foliage. I began working right-side-up; then I turned the canvas and the reference image upside-down, and then right-side-up again. This is probably the hardest part of this painting. In the photograph, the reflected foliage is hard to see its color and value don't contrast very much with the dark water. So I took a sharpie to the photocopy of the reference photo and outlined the reflected foliage to help me understand. Then I went back to the canvas, and it was easier. Later I will darken the reflected foliage so it will be as subtle as in the photo, but at this point, I need to be able to see the shapes clearly. I also did work on placement of the trees in the foreground. Because I am already getting lost in these virtual woods, I used pink to indicate tree branches in the foreground, and gray to indicate branches on the trees across the water. I kind of like the way that looks, but these are not the final colors. To be continued. . . .