I finished one of my paintings from the North Fork of the Chena in the studio last week. I needed to adjust the colors and brushstrokes a little bit since it’s hard to see when I’m painting on location.
The blue water and deep shadows contrasting with the bright white ice attracted me to the subject. I wanted to paint the ‘last of the ice’. It melted as I painted so I had to move fast. The muted orangeish-red tones of the willow and alder contrasted nicely with the dark spruce.

Painting Plein Air
April 23, 2014
Spent the day at the North Fork of the Chena watching ice flow by while painting. 39.4 Chena Hot Springs Road. Warm sunshine and huge mosquitoes. The first mosquitoes are very slow so it wasn’t too bothersome. It was a perfectly beautiful day.