River Copse
8" x 10" oil on boardToday was not exactly a pretty day, as you can see from the sky in the photo below - and maybe from the painting...But, an overcast sky actually makes for less challenging painting conditions, even if it's not as colorful as a sunny day. It's less challenging because the light and shadows don't seem to change as quickly when the sun is blocked by clouds. The last three days have also been 100 degrees +, so upper 80's and overcast felt like a spring day. Still, painting on a rock in the middle of the Potomac River is not without its challenges.
One challenge faced was that my normal put-in at Violet's Lock, which lets me launch below the broken down dam, just upstream from the copse pictured in this painting, was blocked by a massive deadfall. This meant that the first thing I did this morning was navigate some fairly challenging rapids with all of my painting and fishing supplies, food, etc., strapped to my kayak. The uncertainty of the route and not knowing extent of the rapids, however, was scarier than reality, and I made it through just fine. Later in the day, I was sucked into a much larger drop while bouncing around, casting for smallmouth and not paying attention to my route through the boulders. 1.5 feet doesn't sound like much, but when you're caught off guard in an overloaded kayak, it's disconcerting. I got a little sideways, for sure.
Fishing may have been more successful than painting today! I caught one decent smallmouth after another with some big boys mixed in - one of the best days of fishing I can remember and an all-around great day.
