And Now, Making it Saratoga

I hadn't really planned to post my latest work on this, but I thought it might be interesting to see the way this one is progressing. I was pretty sure I wanted to put something in this that identified it without a doubt as Saratoga - namely, one of the red and white awnings. I'm not even sure what you call this particular structure, but under these are television monitors that broadcast the races. See, at Saratoga, many, many people park themself at the paddock with their coolers and lawn chairs and blankets and the like, and don't go anywhere near trackside. While it's not my idea of a day at the races, it does lend to that festive atmosphere that is such a part of the meet. I'm not sure how many of the folks camped out in this area make use of the TV monitors, let alone notice the horses behind them in the walking ring! Oh well. It's like the people in the infield at Churchill Downs on Derby Day, I guess - less about the racing, more about the party.

I'm quite impressed that I painted at all today, after picking up and unloading 138 bales of straw, and then mucking out. It didn't help that it was cold out today, with an inhospitable wind chill - not so nice after temps yesterday that made it above freezing. So just a little work tonight. I checked it out in Photoshop before starting to block it into the painting. I think I'm going to call it quits in case I mess things up!