Picking back up pace

Last Saturday I participated in the Opus outdoor challenge, a plein air painting competition. I didn't win anything but it's was nice to see so many other fellow artists out there making art. I was told there were more than 300 participants at the Granville Island location.

Granville Island is visually very busy. I wanted to find a view that was simple and yet the same time representative enough that people could tell it's Granville Island. Having had not scouted out the place the day before, I spent more than an hour walking the whole island to finally settle  on my spot.

This was my entry:

 

This is after I tidied it up later at home

East end of Granville Island - oil on panel - 9" x 12"

When I came back from the still-brown NY, it was the lush greeneries in Vancouver that awaited m. I went back to Central Park to see what had changed. Honestly not much has changed there since the park is dominated by evergreens.  The setting sun was directly behind me shinning straight on the pines in front of me, flattening out their shapes completely, making them look paper thin.

Paper thin - oil on panel - 12" x 9"

From yesterday:

Arrangement of trees - oil on panel - 12" x 9"

I just started reading "Composition of outdoor painting" by Edgar Payn. I am only a couple chapters in but it has made an impact on me. The above painting has more thinking involved thanks to the book.