Cycle Paint Cycle

I thought it was high time I did a plein air painting, so I packed up some essential supplies and got on my bike.  I had identified a site last weekend, not too far from home for my first foray, so I was able to waste no time selecting my spot.  

The weather was a bit dull and slightly damp this morning so the lighting wasn't perfect.  I sat down on the ground with my pochade box on my lap.  

My supplies were limited with only 3 brushes, 6 tubes of Griffin Alkyds, thinners and a tear-off palette.  I am used to sketching a lot before I even look at my paint, but decided to force myself to use a turpsy wash instead.  Because the scene was mostly green, I used cad red and alizarin for the wash.  The board is just 8 x 8" and I found it difficult not to have smaller brushes for any finer details.

Here is the result, which is far from perfect (I can now see a huge compositional error straight away), but not the disaster I was afraid it might have been.  I am encouraged enough to do it again and I really do not mind what the end result is, it is the process that is important to me.