I'm looking forward to playing with some colors that have not been on the palette for other projects - mainly Phthalo blue and green. I'm also excited about exploring colors and patterns of stones in water - I've always been drawn to that in nature. But, most of all, I'm delighted to be working with a specific concept - trying to capture the moment of quiet contemplation or listening in prayer.
I have flashes of what I think the end product might look like, but I've learned not to get hung up in those fleeting visions. They give me a direction, but the journey will likely take me down any number of possible paths. But, this is merely a study for the sake of exploration. Ultimately, I see this as a fairly large painting - large for my space, anyway, requiring more than a little tabletop. By the time I'm ready to move on to canvas, the weather should be comfortable enough to work in the garage again.
Anyway, here are a couple of sketches from our camping trip last month. The one above is of my 2 girls playing in the river - that's how they spent most of their time during the hot days.
There was no shortage of trees along the river's edge whose intricate roots were exposed going down into the water. I wish I'd had time to add color. Oh well...