Though I love to paint Plein Air, I'm not a die-hard-must-get-out-there-no-matter-what painter. When it's cold out, I much prefer to be in the warmth of my studio. For this painting, I'm using a photo I took in 2009 of Jacque Peak, south/southeast of Vail Pass as my inspiration.
When I took Marc Hanson's workshop last summer, he taught us that it helps to know "what" or "why" we are painting a particular scene. He encouraged us to think about what it is about it that speaks to us and to remember that when painting. I must admit that this is something that I don't find easy to do. To come up with just ONE idea and focus on that is hard. But I also found that it did help the focus of my painting.
So why AM I painting this particular scene? First, my middle son and his wife recently moved into a new place and have very bare walls. They requested a mountain scene painting to go in a particular spot. Second, as I went through years of photos looking for a nice mountain scene, this one lept to the forefront as a favorite. To me it gives a glimpse of the scale and grandeur of the high Colorado mountain peaks. I love the colorful expanse of marshy scrub in the foreground, the stately pines/firs/spruce of the middle ground and that soaring peak covered in snow in addition to Colorado's beautiful blue sky. How does one choose just ONE idea out of that?
If I spend too much time thinking about what my one idea or thought is, sometimes it keeps me from painting... so I went to the canvas and sketched in a rough guideline of shape and value. Then it was time to let it sit overnight.
This morning I started in earnest on the sky. Which was quickly followed by putting in some snow shadows. More blocking in of color to give the mountain shape.
This is where I've gotten to. More blocking, snow laid in on the mountain ~ with much more work to be done.
I both love and dread this stage of painting. What I love is that it begins to come to life if I've gotten the values right. I can begin to see the painting that it can be. What I dread, is that sometimes I get to this point and have no idea where to go next with it to complete it. When working from a photo, it is sometimes too easy to fall into the trap of painting an exact copy of the photo. Because photos tend to be on the flat side, the painting then looks flat too. It is something I strive against, all that flatness. Instead, I want it to have dimension. I want desperately to give the painting life, to make it sing.
It's times like this that I wish I had the benefit of more formal training as a painter rather than being primarily self taught. I know I have a good eye, but sometimes I don't quite understand the technique that would help get a painting where I want it to go.
After working on this all morning, I'm going to let it rest for a bit. Returning to it with fresh eyes often makes a positive difference and helps me see where things were going awry and where things are going well with a better perspective.
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