Paintings of River scenes on canvas are always popular with the general public. The movement of water quietly flowing along to its destination carries the imaginative mind in the same direction, conjuring up visions of the various types of scenery.

From a compositional point of view, there is much to be said in favour of river subjects. They help to create pictorial interest in a landscape, which could otherwise appear dull through lack of a main feature in the design. A river therefore often becomes predominant in a pictorial composition and, as such, must be treated with careful consideration, so that its pattern takes pre-eminence in the finished picture.

On calm days reflections on the water are clearly expressed, duplicating the subject matter above. Before starting to paint water reflections, the whole of the river should be painted in a tone considerably darker than the sky. This will help them to assess the correct tonal relations of various reflections.

Calm diagnosis is necessary when making a realistic painting of water which has become agitated and disturbed by a powerful wind. When this happens it causes considerable difficulty in finding traces of the original reflections.  With oil painting on canvas, the problem can be solved in the first stage by ignoring the restless movement of water and painting the reflections as they would appear if seen on a calm day. Then, with a brush fully charged with oil colour, paint the movement of the water, leaving certain passages untouched.

The same technique can be adopted in watercolour. Instead of adding paint to these static reflections however, the artist can use a sponge (or, if preferred, a small paint brush dipped in clean water) to suggest the movement of the river by wiping out certain passages of sinuous lines, to indicate the disturbed surface and direction of the water.

Artists with little or no experience in painting outdoor river subjects very often fail in painting water reflections with any authority. The best method, particularly in oil or acrylic colours on canvas, is to paint all reflections, irrespective of what they reflect, with a vertical downward movement. To a certain extent, watercolours can be treated in the same manner. Finally, horizontal or curving lines of light tone value can be painted across the vertically suggested reflections.