Dordogne Reflections, 20 x 16 (revised version)

Original version

The easiest of today’s changes was to a painting that I did back in 2015 for the 2016 Pastels en Perigord show.  I loved the painting when I did it but I was reluctant to over blend the water reflections.  When I saw the picture in the show, I was immediately  unhappy with it!  So today I got my finger working and blended the water.  I was instantly happier with it. Not sure how clear it is to you, but I think you can see the difference–there was too much underpainting showing through in the original, which was a distraction.  It’s a very busy picture with no sky or breathing room and having water that was too busy didn’t work well.  Now I feel that the top and bottom parts of the painting are significantly different enough to work together.

I also added a little brighter red orange to the roofs and added some of it in the water.  That’s not as apparent in comparing the pictures.

I’m going to frame this one now!