This view of the Mississippi river is found at Cliff Cave State Park in Saint Louis, Missouri.  I set up my easel near the river overlook in the park. 

People sometimes mistakenly refer to "towboats" as "tugboats".  A tugboat has a V-shaped hull and is built for open, deep water.  It also usually has windows and doors with rounded corners.  In contrast, a towboat has a flat hull and is designed to operate in the relatively shallow water of inland rivers.  It has two tow knees at the front for pushing barges. 

My hope for this painting is for it to capture the effect of evening light on the Towboat and barges.  Regarding composition and design, I often find myself following the advice of the Artist Walter Sickert.  He said that a painting should always indicate that you noticed something.  With that in mind, I strongly indicated the aspects of the scene that most caught my attention.  The sky gradated from bright pink to a light bluish-green.  A few small clouds lingered in the sky as the sun set, and the low-angled, colorful light transformed them into beautiful shapes.  The water level was fairly low, and I noticed that the distant muddy bank was quite bright relative to the rest landscape.  Being early autumn, the poison ivy growing up the tree had turned a bright red.