Sunlight on Eyebrook

Oil on Board, 9 x 12 inches

I painted this one back in June at Patchings Art Festival, but left it until now to finish it off. It's another view of Eyebrook Reservoir in Rutland. 

Looking straight into the sun, there was a gorgeous sheen on the lake, and using the texture of the gessoed board, I dragged a heavily loaded brush with almost pure Titanium White over the grey underpainting to achieve that broken effect - a similar effect to using the rough texture of watercolour paper, but in that case it would be using a grey colour, reserving the white of the paper for the glinting water.

The sheen on the water is the brightest passage of the painting, and setting it next to the darkest part - the two trees - it adds impact and drama to the scene.

I'm entering this one for the ROI annual exhibition, so we'll see if it catches the judges' eyes!