Breezy Day at Cotterstock

Oil on Board, 9x12 inches

With so much going on lately, I somehow managed to get this painting done today. It's the River Nene a few miles from my studio by the village of Cotterstock (isn't that just a beautiful name?) just outside Oundle.

There was a brisk, warm breeze blowing which provided a lively sky of broken clouds and the partly disturbed surface on the water. The distant trees were partly in shadow and partly in full sun, giving a pleasing arrangement of blues and greens.

I painted the water by dragging a soft brush over the top of the underpaint with a darker grey/blue to simulate that effect of wind breaking up the surface, and then a few spots of pure white gently dabbed on with the tip of the palette knife to add those touches of sunlight sparkles.