I worked on this painting for 3 morning sessions. Next time I'll try a lighter underpainting, as the overall cast looks very dark. But I really enjoyed painting the lichen on the trees, and the lilypads on the water surface. Whenever I start a painting outside I have grand plans, but then realize the level of study I'd like to explore would require several sessions per square inch on the canvas!
This one was a quick alla prima study, done in a couple hours. I just started from a point of interest and worked outwards. I realized I should have started with at least a light color wash to knock back the white ground, as I ended up trying to figure out how to fill in background around brushstrokes I liked. A great learning experience.
I am painting on New Traditions Painting Panels
http://www.newtraditionsartpanels.com/index.html
I like the portrait grade linen, oil primed, mounted on gator foam.
I am also loving my Open Box M, it's a fantastic, lightweight, and flexible plein air easel and palette for use with a tripod. This is the one I have:
http://www.openboxm.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=OBMIPAPS&Product_Code=480&Category_Code=PPHp