Pikes Peak in September (Acrylic Mixed Media)

Here is my finished painting.  On August 30 and 31, I continued to work on the painting.  I added some blue tissue paper to the mountains and painted over the mountains with some acrylic blue-violet.  I added more tissue paper to the road and to the snowy parts of the mountain, and painted back into those areas with off-white and pale yellow.  I adjusted some of the shapes in the foothills.  And  I played a bit with color adding some teal outline to the vegetation at the right, and outlining the road with some periwinkle blue.  I made a lot of small changes which convinced me that the painting was finished.  So I signed it, wired it, and wrapped it up for the trip into Boston, to be part of a group show at Galatea Fine Art.

Pikes Peak in September (Painting as of August 29, 2024)

Here is my latest painting as it looked on August 29th.  I was feeling more confident about the composition, and began to play with color, especially having fun with the strong yellow-orange and acid green in the foreground.  I began to add some collage elements, pasting bits of tissue paper on the surface, beginning with the foreground (edge of the field and the green foliage).  To be continued. . .

Pikes Peak in September (Painting as of August 28, 2024)

Here is my newest painting as it looked on August 28, 2024.  Now that I was happy with the composition, I continued to modify shapes and colors.  I wanted to use some typical "Colorado" colors like sage green and dusty rose.  To be continued. . . .

Pikes Peak in September (Painting as of August 26, 2024)

Here is the painting of Pikes Peak that I have been working on, as it look very late on August 26th.  The day before, I had finally modified the composition and was happy with it, so I began to add more color, using my painting reference as a rough guide.  I wanted an intense blue for the sky.  I added purple to the mountains, and painted the snowy areas an offwhite, mixed with very pale yellow.  I added yellow-orange to the field in the foreground, and added more color to the foothills.

Pikes Peak in September (Painting as of August 25, 2024)

Here is my newest painting as it looked at the end of the day on August 25th.  It went through a lot of changes that day. On the preceding day,  I had realized that I was uncertain about the placement of the sun.  I usually know exactly where I want that sun; it is a kind of triangulation.  So I took this as a sign that I wasn't happy with the composition.  I thought maybe I needed something on the right-hand side to balance the road and sun on the left.  So I decided to try painting in a tree in the foreground which is actually in my reference photo.  But I quickly decided that I didn't like it.  So goodbye to the tree.  Instead I painted in some green vegetation on the right.  And suddenly the composition was better, and I knew exactly where I wanted that sun to be. To be continued. . . .

Pikes Peak in September (Painting as of August 24, 2024)

Here is the painting I have been working on as it looked on August 24th.  I added some more color to the foothills,.  I was still uncertain where I wanted that red sun, which is unusual for me.  This was a clue that I wasn't entirely settled on the composition..  To be continued. . . .

Pikes Peak in September (Painting as of August 22, 2024)

Here is my current project as it looked on August 22nd.  I continued to work from my painting reference as I painted in shapes in the foothills with purple and brown paint, and then added some texture to suggest texture.  I added a bit more orange to the foreground.  To be continued. . . .

Pikes Peak in September (As of August 21, 2024)

Here is my current project as it looked on August 21st.  I was finally ready to start painting.  I began to apply some color to my sketch.  I started with that crazy yellow that made me want to paint this, and the purple shapes on the mountains.  This was very rough, really a sketch in paint, but it felt great to get started.

Pikes Peak in September (Sketch for Painting as of August 19, 2024)

Here is my current project as it looked on August 19, 2024.  I continued sketching with conte crayon. (I sketched right on the canvas, or rather gessoboard, that will become the painting).  I re-checked the measurements on my photo reference, and revised my sketch accordingly.  I added a bit of color just to help me see where things are.  To be continued. . .

Pikes Peak in September (Sketch for Painting as of August 18, 2024)

Here is my current project as it looked on August 18 when I began sketching the composition.  I will be painting on gessoboard 16 x 20, and relying on my painting reference, I used conte crayon to make a preliminary sketch of the composition right on the board. It felt good to get this started.

Pikes Peak in September (Photo Reference for Painting)

In preparation for my next painting, I edited my photo of Pikes Peak to get it ready to serve as a photo reference.  (This is a photo that I took during a trip to Colorado some years ago.) I scanned the photo into my computer, and using Painter, I straightened the image and then cropped it to get a pleasing composition, while making sure that height and width would be in the right ratio for my painting, which is going to be 16 x 20.  Then I used Painter's editing tools to eliminate some cars, a billboard, a street lamp, and a bunch of small poles.  I used digital pastel  and posterizing effect to "cover my tracks."  I adjusted the colors and contrast a bit and then it was ready. What you see here is the result, the image that I am going to use as my photo reference.

Pikes Peak in September: Inspiration for next painting

Time to start another painting.  I will be showing a landscape painting in the Artist Alcove show at Galatea Fine Arts next month.  The title is "A Time and A Place".  I was looking through my old photo albums and found this one, a photo of Pikes Peak taken during a September visit to Colorado.  I like the shapes and colors and immediately wanted to paint from it.  I planned to use it as a photo reference, but it needed to be edited first.  To be continued. . . .

Taking a Chance on Flowers (Drawing)

I have been trying out my new Sharpie Creative Markers, and this is the third is a series of flower drawings I have done recently. My goal was to do at least three drawings as a way of getting to know these new markers. It was a lot of fun and I may do more. When I am drawing lines, these markers behave prettty much like the standard Sharpies, but filling in areas of color is different, smoother and easier. I started this drawing yesterday or the day before, but finally finished it today. Although I just wrote that it is finished, I think it might need a little bit of digital cleanup.  I decided to see if I could use the white pen as a color, not just as a way to fix mistakes, and I was happy with the result. I started this a day or two ago, but finally finished it today, although this one is going to need a little digital cleanup.