“River of My Mind”

Today I painted a “double duty” painting. I have a class on texture starting tomorrow and I wanted to continue with the #30x30DirectWatercolorchallenge. So.. How about a painting that satisfies both? On my morning walk, I meandered along the Carson River, looking for waterfowl. Mysteriously, the plethora of geese gaggles usually resident along the river and in the adjacent golf course are all but absent? I hope there has not been an effort to cull their numbers? Alas, on the far side of the course, I did see several families of geese with teenagers in tow. They seemed very leery of me and my camera.

Leery Geese

It was, however, a beautiful morning with much to see and admire. This scene I did without pre-drawing, wet-into-wet, and sans reference. ‘Tis all from my mind, which may explain why the water seems to be slanting sidewise? Ha!  But it does feel very “textury”, so I did get some good practice for my class tomorrow. This is an 8″x10″ study on 140lb Arches Rough.

In my mind’s eye, perhaps I was combining the two scenes below? Next time, maybe I will use the reference while painting?

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Click on images for a larger view. I appreciate comments, questions, and suggestions. Thank you for stopping by.