First proper plein air pic

Finally, things have calmed down a bit so I had time to pootle off with my new pochade box. For some reason, I chose to go down by the river Wey near Godalming. It's a gorgeous spot and I've always loved it, but it was only when I was setting up that it properly occurred to me that I have no idea how to do water, or fields, and my tree record is pretty poor too.

 

 

It's not great obviously, nor even good,  but it's not  utterly hideous either I don't think, not for a first go. I had no idea initially what I was doing, I was hopping from water to trees, from detail to broad strokes, from panic to pleasure. Mostly panic.  It's so so different than from a photo. There is no nice neat framing device, and the darned light kept changing. Things looked oddly luminously green and lurid when the sun came out, and then everything dulled down under a cloud.

And people! nosy people! I hated the whole thing for the first twenty minutes and just wanted to give up and go home, but then I thought feck it, just do it and quit worrying. Then I had a great time.

 

 

 

The spot was chosen not for composition, but for shade and a bit of nice grass. My daughters had come along with me, and read away while I painted. We brought a rug, a picnic and a beer - there are many worse ways to spend a couple of hours.