I might say that this particular place along Oak Creek is my favorite since this is the 26th painting I have painted from the banks here. For most I have painted from photos taken on that property over many years, but Oak Creek at Briar Patch XXVI is about 99% plein air - though it took two different years of working on it in the same spot to paint it! Very few finishing touches were added back in the studio. Since it's a favorite vacation spot I have done this with a few other paintings as well, not having had time to finish them at the time of their start nor during the year from memory and informational photos taken at the time.

My color scheme for Oak Creek at Briar Patch XXVI is a bit different from my usual and I cannot say what impelled me to paint it in these colors. One of the pleasures of plein air painting is that it often prompts the painter to get "into the zone" where the painting process becomes nearly automatic and feels like magic!