the baseball field early evening

9x9 pastel and watercolor on Uart

 The tree on the right has been obsessing me, the way it turns a goldish silver in the light is extraordinary. I watch it every night at sunset, just to see that color! I worked on many studies before getting a composition. I wanted it to be different than my usual field compositions so I included the hill going down to the houses. It caught the light just right.  In addition the buttercups have been left there unmowed. Yay!
That decided I packed up my stuff. Since carrying my stuff is still an issue,  I simply did the watercolor underpainting the first time, returning the next night for the pastel. Violet and yellow predominated in the underpainting- simple.
This evening I brought the pastels. I was out there painting during "pick up" adult softball so fly balls  kept coming precariously close to the easel. It added to the drama of the scene.
Planning and patience are becoming a bigger part of my repertoire.  I can see this one growing huge.
PS This is my first painting done (since surgery on January 13th) while standing at the easel.  Yay! It felt so GOOD!