Day Twenty Eight - Rocks and Water

On Day Sixteeen I painted underwater rocks and wrote about not being ready to paint the sun dapples on the rocks.

The next day I took photos of some rocks with the sunlight ripple patterns.  I was amazed at what I saw; captured the digital the patterns were rather schizophrenic.  Not what I had expected.

Today I attempted to paint from one of these photos.  Getting the rocks to look as if they are underwater is a real challenge, which I haven't mastered.  There is a very complex relationship between the rippled surface of the water, the angle of the sun and the uneven surface of the rocks.  After looking at it for some hours I understand it better, but still not well enough paint convincingly. In some areas the sunlight on the rocks seems to reflect back to the water surface creating yet another phenomenon.  Yikes!!!

Here is first try:

Almost Touching
5 x 7 Oil on Canvas Panel

 

Just got a e-mail from my plein air group to post snow paintings tomorrow.  I was thankful I made it back from the mailbox.  Talk about extreme sports.