Ruby Lake From Above

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This is the last one (that turned out) from my trip to the Sierra Nevada Mountains last month. This one is from a solo day hike to Ruby Lake (from base camp at Garnet Lake). I found this scene not far from the trail, and while this trail is not heavily trafficked, for some reason a bunch of people walked by right as I was in the very ugly beginning stages of this painting. I was working fast because this light was changing by the minute. And some guy said, "Oh, are you painting?" Ummm, yes. "What you are you painting?" This scene. "Are you going to paint the whole thing?" Nope. "Which part are you going to paint?" Uhhh, it's hard to explain? 

At this point I think the inflection in my voice, and the fact that I turned my back to him so I could focus, convinced him to stop asking questions. The next time I looked back he was gone. Sorry dude. I'm not great at answering questions when I'm painting.

I was only able to get a rough sketch and some color notes that day. I took a bunch of pictures and finished it in my studio. I'm really happy with how the blue shimmers against the green.

Ruby Lake Rocks

 

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Another one from my Sierra trip. On this day I wanted to hike to Ruby Lake, which was quite a trek. I asked all my painting pals and had no takers, so I did it by myself. It was a lovely day. The shadows on these rocks changed super fast, so I took lots of pictures as I painted, and clarified it a bit more in my studio. I seem to be more interested in what I call "outdoor still lifes" than "landscapes."

Leaning Tree at Salmon Lake

 

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From a recent explore with the hubs. He likes to fish and so my search for painting material happily coincided with his search for lakes to fish in.

Also here's a little 4x4 gouache. It's from a magical hike during a camping trip earlier this summer. We drove a long way down a dirt road that we definitely needed our jeep for. When it got to be too much we hiked and went up, up, up. Then suddenly the view opened up and the road wound on forever in this beautiful view. Then the clouds shaded everything but the middle part and I went - WOW! I'm pretty happy with how the painting of it went, so it's going in my personal collection.

Just Around the Lake

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Four times now, over the years, I have hiked way up into the Sierra Nevada Mountains and painted with friends, for a week each time. There are no words to describe how wonderful each and every trip has been. I've taken lots of photos, and have been poring over them lately because ... I'm not going this year. : (

The reference for this particular painting was taken on a day when I was painting by myself on the opposite side of the lake from camp. The clouds were spectacular, so I clicked away, but I also quickly realized that the clouds were getting darker. So I hoofed it around the lake just in time to dive into my tent. My nap lasted just as long as the rain, and then I was out and painting again. BTW, This is my biggest gouache painting yet! Woo!

Boulder with a View

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Ok, I had to try one more landscape, for now. This is Garnet Lake, from my first year up in the Sierras. It was a little bit hazy when I was taking the photos, but I'm digging the exaggerated atmosphere. I broke some rules with the composition, but hey, isn't that what rules are for?

Outcrop

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This is the same outcrop as in my first painting, "Across the Lake," (see to the right) but from a different location, an earlier time of day, and cropped. This "outcrop," as I'm calling it, is a pretty substantial pile of rock that juts out into the lake. The water beside it is shallow enough to wade in to the knees (but cold!). If one wants to walk around the lake (to other good views) one must either walk in the water, or climb over the whole thing. I've done both. (This painting was also tweaked after I got home.)

Across the Lake

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Well, we had no bears (up in the Sierra's, where I was last week), but the fires caused some trouble. There was smoke every day (often a LOT), and it definitely caused some delays getting home. But it was still a WONDERFUL trip, with good friends, and fantastic subject matter!

This is my first painting, done quickly on the first afternoon, after we dried off and warmed up, after being pelted by hail (and rain) on the strenuous hike in. Fortunately the rain cleaned up some of the smoke, but it was back again the next morning.

Christmas on the Rocks

sold. (10x8in.)

I was browsing through my Sierra Nevada photos the other day. When I landed on the reference for this one I thought it would make the perfect end of year/Christmas painting!

From my family to yours ->

Lake Layers

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To get to this spot I had to hike in a direction from camp that I wasn't used to going. Because I wasn't familiar with it, I asked around for a buddy. Lori Putnam happily agreed, and off we set. We found our spot, painted, bonded over similar childhoods, gave directions to lost hikers, and started walking back. Suddenly, about 100 yards from camp, we spotted a funny sort of pile that looked like torn up granola bar wrappers mixed with mud. We casually reported this to the cook back at camp and she said, "Yep, I saw that on the way in. It's bear poop. I've had my eyes peeled for bears." Fortunately this was our last day in camp. Otherwise I think I would have been so scared I wouldn't have slept all week!

Covered Bridge

sold

There are a number of these covered bridges in Oregon. This particular one is on Dexter Lake, which is pretty close to Eugene. I painted this a few days ago, on location, but the sun was behind quite a few, very big clouds. There was an enormous, green hill in the background, which I didn't particularly like, so I made it smaller and foggy. I think it turned out.