I started this northern lake painting with the idea of
capturing the reflections of the sky in the water. I remember it was a warm day
with passing clouds that continued to break up as the day went on so I had to
work quickly with my initial color sketch putting down the basics of the scene
and deciding how I would manage all the different areas. I liked the way that
the cloud reflections were broken up in places by the lake plants and was glad
that I decided to include them too. I just lightly indicated the sky above the
horizon as I wanted this one to be more about the lake and the surrounding
trees, most of which acted as a backdrop to the scene. I think the size of this
one was 16 x 20 in (41 x 51 cm), oil on canvas.
