Late Fall on the River (study)

Painting No. 152
Late Fall on the River (study)
Carson Valley, Nevada
6" x 12", oil on linen panel
December 19, 2011

A few weeks ago I started thinking about developing a studio painting of the Cottonwood trees near the Carson River. For those who don't live in the western United States, these trees have trunks that are quite large, upwards of 3' to 12' in diameter. They grow more or less in groves near rivers.
My previous attempts to capture the size and strength of the trees (Paintings No. 138 & 144) didn't due them justice. So I tried to ask that all important question, "What would John Carlson do?" The answer is to make sure that the trees are strongly anchored to the ground, think of how much weight they support, and to remember that we are often look up at trees, like when you would stand next to a hot air balloon, from the under-side we see a narrow neck with the largest balloon mass skyward and slightly out of sight.
So I held these principles and added a third element of lowering my visual plane. By visualizing the trees and river from a small child's view point, then I can get a better feel for how the trees, grass, water and mountains are arranged.