Crane city on the Lake

My first plein air painting in a long long time! This is the lake I go to for inspiration. A short drive from my house. Its the location for most of my study into colors, composition, tone, etc.

My equipment is simple. A failed pochace box (!) acts as a table for materials. An alumunium easel helps to hold the support. The fact is local carpenters here don't know what a pochade box is. And i DID scout the whole of Bangalore city to buy one. But nada. Nobody , no artists in Bangalore uses a pochade box! So I had to go and coax my carpenter into making one. But the end result is so shaky, that you cannot paint on it, cos of the fact that we couldnt find a tee-nut here to hold the box to the tripod. So I decided to use it as a materials manager, and used my alumunium portable easel to paint. 

This scene is the bunch of trees where the cranes come . I have no idea what those cranes are, nor the names. Wish I knew though, but they were beautiful! Huge wing span, orange,  black and yellow. Lovely birds. 

This is first and last time im carrying a 12 x 16" canvas on a plein air trip!! Lol. It took me the best part of a couple of hours to finish this. The light changed , it become hot and sweaty. 

Here's the block in stage: 

The finished plein air:

12 x 16" , Oil on Canvas panel