A figurative painting for a change

I have been going through the photos I took in New Zealand as I want to do a few pieces from there, but paintings that could be anywhere.  I watched several little kids with an eye to getting some good reference, and got some shots of this kid as he played with his boat in the water.  I was hoping no parents noticed as I didn't want to have to explain why I was photographing their kids!    It is just a little 6x8.  I really enjoy painting figurative work. 

New Zealand in summer, a great time to paint!

We have been in New Zealand for almost 6 weeks now and will be leaving a week from today.

I have loved being here and plan on coming back next year to do it all over again, but it will be good to get home. I have tried to paint every day, although it has been very rainy and I cannot paint inside in our rented house, so it has limited me. Still, I got a couple of dozen small paintings done. I don't necessarily want anyone to see them all, but this is one that came out ok. The photo is a bit washed out and perhaps I should have darkened it before posting, but I really don't like to manipulate the photos and prefer to just post what I get. If I want a better photo, I should get a better photographer! ;)