Here in the Dordogne we're lucky enough to be staying in a B&B which sits right next to the river, overlooking it. Yesterday we travelled down it in a canoe, barely glimpsing another person, and today morning mist entirely blanketed the water; so it's a delightful scene with changing moods. So I just had to try and sketch it as best I could - editing out details such as the protective fence:
The tricky part about this vista, as I discovered, is that trees all look alike at a distance; all you get is a wall of foliage which intellectually you know needs to be separated but just doesn't look like that in practice. So I improvised by adding outlines in what seemed to be the right places and filled in with similar, but distinct, shading to represent the leaves:
What I find odd, but also fulfilling, about the resultant picture is that while it doesn't look much like reality it does convey a sense of exactly the scene being represented. I guess that that's the point of art (the whole interpretation angle rather than going for a photo-realistic depiction) but it feels a little strange to reach that point without entirely meaning to. Either way I'm satisfied by the result and by the river itself too - both hit the spot!