Two Book Reflections

My daughter and I went to paint at Myrick Park in La Crosse. At this time of year the marsh has abundant algae and the bluffs are very green.  The challenge is to have grades and distinctions in the greens.

In the past there have been some sad stories about green from the tube. I prefer to use various blue and yellow combinations: lemon yellow, cad yellow, cobalt blue, cerulean blue,  ultramarine and usually burnt umber to tone the greens.  The only green I like is oxide of chromium, maybe because it’s not called green.

I often try to use just three colors, and mix from those, which helps unify the painting. One example is cerulean, cad yellow and burnt umber. Usually another blue asserts itself, and I might use neutral tint.

I’ve had a lot of gray skies this year so a blue sky without haze was nice on this day.  You can see the algae on the marsh. The patches of water offer reflections of the bluffs, but the algae is opaque.

The atmospheric distance was subtle in life, so I juked it a bit.

Some summer camp kids came by and requested a bird or a butterfly, so I added a hawk from memory. They usually ride the thermals in the afternoon and evening.