Snow in June (Above Treeline) Painting as of March 31, 2020

This morning, I worked on this painting again.  I am trying to capture the wonder of seeing snow in June, high in the mountains of Colorado.  My reference is a photo that I took in June of 2018 during a visit to my home stat.  Today I reworked the top lines of the composition, lowering the silhouette of the distance mountains. That meant that the sky would also need to be repainted, and I started that as well, but more work to come on the sky.  I also worked more on the snow, and used a wash to modify the color of those mountains with a mauve wash, making them closer to gray.  Getting there, but there are still things that need to be fixed. To be continued. . . .

Snow in June (Above Treeline) Painting as of March 30, 2020

Today I continued work on this painting.  My reference is posted here March 23, a photo that I took during a summer trip to Colorado in 2018.  I am trying to capture that glimpse of snow that you can see above the treeline, even in the summer.  Today I worked on added some earth tones to the mountains, suggesting earth and rock seen through the vegetation.  These are the Rocky Mountains, after all.

Snow in June (Above Treeline) Painting as of March 29, 2020

I worked on this painting this morning.  My painting reference (posted here March 23) is a photo that I took a trip to Colorado. It was June of 2018 and as we drove into the mountains, I remembered learning as a kid that in the summer there is snow in the mountains above the treeline.  Today I worked on the mountain slopes in the foreground, trying to get the progression of colors right.   

Snow in June (Above Treeline) Painting as of March 28, 2020

This morning, I continued work on this painting.  My reference (posted here March 23) is a digitally modified version of a photo that I took during my last trip to Colorado (in June, 2018).  I chose the photo because it shows snow in the mountains above treeline (elevation too high for trees to grow).  Today I started to add green to some of the closer areas, and also sketched in some trees.

Snow in June (Above Treeline) Painting as of March 27, 2020

I worked on this painting again today.  My reference is a snapshot taken during my most recent trip to Colorado (posted here March 23).  I am trying to capture the wonder of seeing snow in the summer, high in the Rocky Mountains.  After revising the top line of the mountains, I am fairly well satisfied with the composition, so I began to add some color, mainly to the sky and to the mountain peaks that are above the treeline (the high elevation where trees can't grow).

Snow in June (Above the Treeline) Painting as of March 26, 2020

This is the painting I started two days ago.  I am working from a photo that I took during a trip to Colorado in 2018 (posted here March 23).  Since childhood drives into the Rocky Mountains, I have always been amazed seeing snow in the summer.  Today I adjusted the lines of the mountains, especially those toward the top of the image.

Flatirons at Dawn (FINAL) Acrylic Watermedia Painting

Okay, okay, I know I already declared this finished.  But after thinking about it for a couple of days, I decided to do a little more with the sky, just to make things look a little more finished.  The sky is tricky anyway. Although the direction of the light is about right, but I took a bit of artistic license so I could still have that distance sun in the painting.

Snow in June Above Treeline (Painting as of March 24, 2020)

I got this painting started today. My reference is a photo from our trip to Colorado in 2018 (posted here March 23). As a child, I was amazed to learn that even in the summer, there was snow in the mountains above the treeline. 

Snow in June (Above Treeline) (Reference for Painting)

Today I got this image ready to use as a reference for my next painting.  I started with a photo that I took during a trip to Colorado in June of 2018. The photo was taken from the road, somewhere near Breckenridge. As we drove into the mountains that day, memories from childhood came back to me. I remembered learning with delight that high in the mountains, too high for trees to grow, there was snow, even in the summer. Today I cropped this image from the original photo, taking out most of the road, and then used digital pastel to obscure power lines, road signs, and remaining cars.

Flatirons at Dawn (Acrylic Watermedia Painting)

I finished this painting yesterday. This is an attempt to capture my memories of watching the sun come up in Boulder, Colorado. Yesterday I worked on adding highlights and shadows, trying to create the sense of light beginning to reach the rocks as the sun rises. This is acrylic used as watermedia, painted on Aquabord 16 x 20 inches.

Flatirons at Dawn (Painting as of March 20, 2020)

This is my current painting as it looked yesterday, March 20.  I have been trying to capture a memory of dawn in Boulder, Colorado. I used to love to watch the Flatirons turn pink as the sun came up.  My photo reference is a digitally modified photo from a recent trip (posted here March 7).  I had to make a lot of changes and it did take a while, but now I am happy with the composition. In this photo you can see I was starting to do more with highlights and shadows. To be continued. . .

Flatirons at Dawn (Painting as of March 19, 2020)

This is my current painting as it looked yesterday. This is an attempt to capture a memory of the Boulder Flatirons at dawn, something I saw quite frequently when I lived there in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  I am working from a digitally modified photo that I took during a trip to Colorado in 2018 (posted here March 7). Yesterday I began working on the rocky outcroppings, beginning to indicate the light and shadows.

Flatirons at Dawn (Painting as of March 18, 2020)

Here is my current project as it looked yesterday.  I am trying to capture a scene remembered from living in Boulder, Colorado, and watch the Flatirons turn pink when the sun came up.  After spending a couple of days revising the shapes and placement of the rock outcroppings. Yesterday I finished the revised composition by repainting the rocks.  To be continued. . . .

Flatirons at Dawn (Painting as of March 17, 2020)

This is my current painting as it looked yesterday.  This is an attempt to capture my memory of early mornings in Boulder, Colorado at sunrise.  (I am using a digitally modified photo as my main reference, posted here March 7.)  Yesterday, I continued to work on moving and adjusting the shapes of the rocks. The painting here is rough, but I am a lot happier with the composition and the perspective.  To be continued. . . .

Reposting: Ring of Kerry (Watercolor Painting)

This is a watercolor painting that I did some years ago.  My friend Herman asked me to paint this scene of the Ring of Kerry, in County Kerry, Ireland, as a gift for his wife, whose name is Kerry. (On my most recent trip to Colorado in 2018, I had a chance to see it in person, hanging over their fireplace.) Anyway, I am reposting this today because on March 17, we are all Irish. 

Flatirons at Dawn (Painting as of March 16, 2020)

I continued work on this painting today.  This is an attempt to paint a memory from my years living in Boulder, Colorado: the Flatirons turning pink at sunrise. Today, after looking at my photo reference (posted here  March 7) as well as other photos of the Flatirons, I decided to adjust the size, positions, and form of the big rock outcroppings.  You see the revised shapes here, but not the final color.  I stopped at that point to give myself a chance to look at this change and decide if I am happy with it before continuing.  After looking at this for a while, I think this change was an improvement and helps with the perspective.  To be continued. 

Flatirons at Dawn (Painting as of March 15, 2020)

I continued work on this painting this morning.  I am trying to capture a memory that was once part of my daily life when I lived in Boulder, Colorado. When the sun came up, the Flatirons were pink. I am working from a digitally modified photo that I took on my last trip to Colorado (posted here March 7).  I have been struggling a bit with this, but made some changes today that I think will take this in a good direction.  First, I made the foreground darker.  Then I added more shadows behind the rocks, using dark blue wash, and highlights to the rock outcroppings, using pale yellow.  There are still some corrections and changes to make, but I am optimistic now.

Flatirons at Dawn (Painting as of March 14, 2020)

This is my current painting as it looked today after I worked on it.   I am trying to capture a memory, living in Boulder and watching the Flatirons turn pink at sunrise.  My reference (posted here March 7) is a digitally modified version of a photo that I took on my last visit to Colorado. Today I worked on color: added blue to the mountains, pink and brown to the rocks, and a layer of green to the foreground. 

Flatirons at Dawn (Painting as of March 13, 2020)

I returned to this painting  this morning. This is based on memories of watching the sun come up when I lived in Boulder, Colorado. I am using a digitally edited photo as my reference (posted here March 7). Today I reworked the foreground, including the curve of the line separating the field from the mountains.

Flatirons at Dawn (Painting as of March 12, 2020)

Post as: art

I worked on this painting again today. This is based on a  memory from Boulder, Colorado: watching the rising sun turn the Flatirons pink.  (I am using a digitally modified photo as a reference, posted here March 7). Today I worked on color and texture of the mountains, and also adjusted the composition a bit.

Flatirons at Dawn (Painting as of March 10, 2020)

Here is my current painting as it looked yesterday, based on memories of the sun coming up in Boulder, Colorado.   I am working from a photo taken a couple of years ago for the structure and the composition, but the color is from memory and imagination.  (You can see my reference posted here on March 7.) Yesterday I modified some of the lines, added more yellow to the sky, and added some brown wash over the pink to get that characteristic Colorado color. To be continued. . . .

Flatirons at Dawn (Painting as of March 9, 2020)

This is my current painting. This is based on my memories of living in Boulder, Colorado, and watching the Flatirons turn pink when the sun came up.  I am working from a digitally modified photo (posted here March 9).  On March 9, I worked on color and composition.

Reposting: Hamentaschen Again

A few years ago, a drew this on my iPad, and my drawing program captured the action.  These are hamentaschen, triangular filled cookies eaten on Purim.  The cookies are triangular to represent the three-cornered hat of Haman, the "wicked, wicked man" who plotted to kill all the Jews. Reposting today because Purim starts at sundown.

Flatirons at Dawn (Painting as of March 8, 2020)

I started a new painting today. This is based on my memories of the sunrise in Boulder, Colorado.  I used to watch the sun come up and turn the Flatirons pink. For a reference, I am using a (digitally modified) photo that I took in Boulder two years ago (posted here March 7, 2020). Today I worked from my reference to establish the shapes and composition, but the colors are really coming from my memories and my imagination.  To be continued. . . .

Flatirons at Dawn (Digitally Modified Photo)

One of my strongest memories of Colorado is looking out the window in the morning and watching the Flatirons turn pink. In the 1970s, we lived in married student housing south of campus; we had two very young children and I was often up before the sun. I want to turn that memory into a painting for my upcoming show, but I don't have a photo of that. So today I created this image instead. I started with a photo that I took during a recent trip to Colorado, a picture of the Flatirons seen from campus, somewhere south of the Engineering school, not too far from married student housing.  Although the vantage point was right in my 2018 photo, some campus buildings in the foreground were in the way. So today I opened the image in Painter, cropped the mountains from the background, and drew into it the image with digital pastel, obscuring the foreground and completing the shapes of those mountains.  Then I played with the color to suggest a bit of the pink I remember.  Now this is ready to use as a starting point for my next painting. 

Loveland Pass in Mid-Summer (Acrylic Watermedia)

I made lots of small changes to this painting today, and now I am willing to say that it is finished. This is based on a snapshot that I took during a family trip to Colorado in July of 1978. You can see the original photo posted here on February 26. This is acrylic paint used as watermedia on Aquabord 16 x 20 inches.  Time to go on to the next painting. . . .

Loveland Pass in Mid-Summer (Painting as of March 5, 2020)

I worked on this painting again this morning.  My reference (posted here February 26) is a snapshot that I took on a family trip to Colorado in July of 1978.  Today I made mostly minor modifications to the field and road in the foreground, but concentrated on creating a shadow on the mountain on the far right-hand side of the image.  There are still some small things to fix, so I hope to finish this tomorrow.

Loveland Pass in Mid-Summer (Painting as of March 4, 2020)

This morning I returned to this project, a painting based on a snapshot that I took in 1978 during a family trip to Colorado. (The snapshot is posted here February 26.) Today I made some changes in value and contrast using light and dark washes.  I think this is almost finished, but there are a few small things I want to fix.

Loveland Pass in Mid-Summer (Painting as of March 3, 2020)

This morning I continued to work on this painting.  My reference is a vacation photo from a family trip to Colorado in July of 1978. (The photo is posted here February 26.)  Today I worked on the clouds and softened the color of the field in the foreground.  But I spent most of the time adding some reddish-brown to the mountains, to try to areas in deep shadow from areas that are getting sun. 

Loveland Pass in Mid-Summer (Painting as of March 2, 2020)

This morning I worked on this painting for a while.  My reference (posted here February 16) is a vacation photo taken in Colorado in 1978.  Today I focussed on the foreground: the field and the road.  Those S-curves are tricky when you are driving, as well as when you try to paint them.  To be continued. . . .

Loveland Pass in Mid-Summer (Painting as of March 1, 2020)

This is the painting I started yesterday.  I am working from a photo that I took during a family trip to Colorado back in 1978. (Reference photo is posted here February 16.) Today I added blue to the sky and used some dark blue to establish shadows on the mountains.