The San Miguel River Again

In yesterday’s sketch I worked to get a fairly realistic sketch of an actual place along the San Miguel River just outside Telluride Colorado. The parts of the finished sketch that I found most pleasing were the large abstract trees on the right side. 

I wondered what this same scene might look like if the full sketch were done more abstractly in a style similar to the pleasing trees. I stayed home today and used yesterday’s sketch as a reference for this second sketch of the San Miguel River. Although I like the water in the first sketch more, overall I do like this second sketch better. I plan to work in this style for the next few days but will do so outside on location so I catch more of the excitement of the scene.
This is a gouache sketch in an 8 X 12 inch Derwent sketchbook with black paper.