Another plein air day. Started on the river bed near the floating bird sanctuaries, looking towards Wandsworth bridge, almost contra jour. The tonal range and colour notes are good. I got a bit sloppy with the brush strokes in the foreground, they were just scraped on, rather than placed thoughtfully. The upward fade on the poles was, I think, a consequence of their being less soiled with barnacles and other river detritus at their peaks. Noticing and recording this resulted in a rather satisfactory blending into the sky which I think works very well. The tone and sharp edges of the boats mid river are a bit harsh.
I turned around and walked to the other end of the bird sanctuaries. To avoid the full force of the sun on my canvas I had to place it at 120 degrees from the scene I was viewing. 90 degrees has been my previous maximum. It was hard work and gave me a neck ache and didn't result in a particularly good picture. Because I was looking into the sun and painting in the shade I was a bit tentative with my paint and it ended up being a bit thin. Tonally a bit dull. Didn't manage to capture the sunny day!
Cycled down to Barnes for an afternoon session on the towpath, looking east towards Barnes railway bridge. I caught the sunny weather much better in this picture, but feel I should have simplified some of the shapes a bit to make them more understandable.
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