Swift River 2 | 24"x36" | Oil Paint on Stretched Canvas | 2012 |
Swift River 2 began as two quick paint sketches made along the Swift River, which follows the Kancamagus Highway through the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
It was a peaceful afternoon... briefly made a little less peaceful by the arrival of a large group of young German tourists. You never quite know who you are going to meet when you set up to paint outdoors.
I returned to the sketches later in the studio, concentrating on the depth of the scene... the clear water moving over and around the rocks, and the darker layers of trees beyond it.
For me, the challenge was to make both the water and the forest feel as though you could look into them rather than simply across them.