October clunker

The weather here in NC has become warmer and beautiful.  Yesterday I drove down to SC to paint with my friend, Jane, and, after a short recon, set up on a country road with some nice choices.  I made a bad one.  Jane chose a home on a hill with fields and fences and composed and finished a nice little outdoor sketch.  I decided to paint some prominent trees in a small woods across the road from her.  Well, I was looking into a dark area with sunlight filtering down and I thought I could do a keeper. Wrong!  I started off with a nice lay in and then got into values.   What a royal mess!  I fought it for about two hours, fought nausea looking at it for another ten minutes, and finally accepted that it was only good for a reused painting board.  I scraped it off, wiped it down, and have a nice toned surface to try another painting.  Years ago, when I was less experienced, I would have taken it home, kept it for months, and finally given up;  then had to chip, scrape, and sand it to make it usable again.  Other than that, I had a fun day.  You have one, too.   Mike