"Crossing" 9x12, oil - $150 - contact Michael
We had an overcast day not too long ago, and we went down to Red Rock Crossing. The light spoke "pink" to me, and that's the way I painted it. The water was too high to walk across the stepping stones, but it made for some nice rapids to paint. I particularly liked that little orange bit of color beneath the clump of grass to the right of the foam.
Maynard Dixon sent a card to painter John Hilton once with some advice. The card read: "Be sensitive in perception, circumspect in approach, clear in color, definite in form - and remember, it is not the last stroke but every stroke that counts."
I had to look up "circumspect" to remind myself what it means. It means "cautious" or "prudent." I think what Dixon meant here was, among many things, to be careful what you include in your scene. There was a great deal of very complicated brush and tangled weeds on both the far shore and nearby. I removed or simplified most of it.
Dixon's paragraph should be printed out in bold letters and taped into the lid of your paintbox.
