WINTER • COLORADO • SNOW • ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK
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| Up Around the Bend, 11 x 14, oils |
This is the fourth painting in my series of Colorado snow scenes. While hiking around Bear Lake I came across the scene below and knew it had potential. I loved the sweeping, dappled light and shadow on the snow and how it leads the viewers to the mountain in the distance. I also liked the split rail fence in the foreground.
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| Reference Photo |
The scene was nice but it didn't yet work as a painting. It was time to do a small sketch and see how it could be improved. This drawing is 2.5 inches wide on grid paper. The fence was leading the eyes right out of the scene so I bent it back towards the center of interest. Next I exaggerated the pinnacle of the mountain in the background. I would make more changes on the finished piece when it came to making decisions about color and contrast but this was enough to get started.
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| Thumbnail Sketch |
You can see by comparing the reference to the finished painting that I've pushed the colors to more reflect my memory of the scene. After adding more atmospheric distance, I lightened the sky a bit since clear skies at 10,000 feet elevation can look unusually dark. Trying to get the snow to 'lie down' on that slope was probably the biggest challenge. I think I'll call this one done.
Hi, Larry. A student in my art appreciation class found your work online. I showed the students two artists (Rembrandt and Maxfield Parrish) who've painted "light" so brilliantly. My student was impressed with your paintings, and she thought you also painted "light" in a beautiful way as well. She's absolutely right!
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