This painting is the result of an interesting exercise for me. I had done a 9 X 12 study on site and had a picture that was taken while we were painting and painted this piece using this reference. When painting on site you are often able to get a feel for the light and shadow and value relationships but not too often get much of a “finished” piece. Sometimes I feel that the studies are enough and can stand on their own as a complete impression of the subject. But I wanted to take this one further.

I gave the piece the rather long title of “Lloyd Neck, the View Looking East Toward Eaton’s Neck”. The area we chose to paint is actually a private beach and mooring area for some of the locals. There is a long dock directly behind me with a number of skiffs tied up to it. These small skiffs are rowed out to the larger vessels moored in Lloyd Harbor. From there you navigate toward the east and out into Long Island Sound. We decided we could probably get away with setting up there for a couple of hours especially as it was a Monday and not liable to have a lot of “weekend traffic”. I’m happy to say that we were able to finish without being run off of the property!

The finished painting, as you see it here, is painted on canvas, which is taped to a 16 X 20 panel. I will eventually have to stretch it or mount it permanently to a sturdier panel and have not yet decided what the final size will be.