Lac Delage, Quebec

This was a quick painting I made in the morning of a conference I attended at Lac Delage near Quebec city. It is very reminiscent of a scene from Algonquin park. Done just after dawn, there was a thick layer of mist on the water that I tried to capture.

Green is never green. In this painting the trees and grass are depicted with an array of blues, browns, yellows, oranges and even pinks. All of these colours are tinted with green. A common mistake beginners make is to reach for the green tube of paint as a starting point, resulting in an unnatural feel. Of course impressionist painters such as Mastisse and Van Gogh used pure greens to great effect, but they did it on purpose!

11x7.5" cold press. June 2013