When I saw what the temperatures were going to be this week, I called on my friend Diane to come plein-air painting with me. Today it was projected to be 20 degrees c. with no wind; a perfect day to paint. My goal for this painting session was just to paint the fall colors. Not having slept well, I didn't feel ambitious enough to drag out my oil box so watercolors and pastels came only.
After picking Diane up at 9:00am, we headed to St. Vital Park. We had hardly started down the road, when I spied an open reflection of the far river bank in the water. It was absolutely breathtaking because the water was like glass; reflecting the scene in its full color detail.
We went down to the bank and I did two watercolor sketches; one facing the trees behind with the sun coming through the trees and one facing the beautiful reflections in the water. It was a little chilly but I had dressed for it with my Costco down jacket and gloves. Only my big toe was cold. After approximately an hour and a half, we drove around to the duck pond which now has a beautiful new shelter which we had lunch in. Enjoying the warmth, we decided to stay inside and sketch a tree right outside the shelter.
This was a spectacular day and makes you wonder why anyone would want to paint in their studio!
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| Beautiful pattern of sun and shadows through trees |
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| Diane sketching the above scene |
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| Shirley about to paint what's behind her |
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| Rather abstract pattern of light and shadow |
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| My attempt to capture the glorious fall reflections |
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| A particularly nice shaped tree |
