Wednesday, July 22, 2009

The Cutbank on Swan



I have art that I have done in the past that is so bad, to look at it would detach your retina. And I am not afraid to post it.
The watercolor painting is one I did back in '99. I used to carry a watercolor pad and equipment in my turkey vest when I would turkey hunt and if the hunting got slow I would watercolor paint. Or so I thought. I was plein air painting and I had never heard the term at that point. Who knew it would become what it has.
Yesterday afternoon I painted with Jason Saunders and we painted at Swan Creek on the Derryberry property that I have leased to hunt. When I got home with my painting I started trying to remember how many years and how many times I have painted in the creek at this cutbank. Then I remembered I had this painting somewhere, I just had to find it. Ouch, and I did.
That is the same cutbank in both paintings. It is also the same one you will see posted on my website. It has changed quite a bit over the years (so has my skill level) and has moved into the farm maybe 10-20 yrds. but is still my favorite place to paint. It always has some interesting shapes, colors, values, etc., etc. so you can always get a painting there. Plus, no gawkers. I don't mind gawkers because my philosophy is,"gawker today, customer tomorrow." But man, that peace and quiet sure helps the creative process.

1 comment:

Chris Ousley said...

That little watercolor ain't bad. Kind of reminded me of little Charlie Russell sketch I saw. A little sketch like this today will bring back memories of that day years down the road.