North Fork Shoshone River

Overlooking the North Fork 5 1/2 x 8 pastel, Copyright 2012

Headed back out west with the smaller format, this time along the North Fork Shoshone River.  The highway that runs along the river takes you from Cody into Yellowstone Park, and it is a breathtaking drive.  Closer to Cody the terrain is less rugged and there are scattered ranches, many offered for rent to tourists.  Further upstream the gorge gets more narrow and walls more steep until the highway climbs up the to the rim of the caldera inside the park.

East of the East Entrance into the park the evidence of past volcanic activity is abundant.  Many of the ridgetops are formed by the sharp spires of volcanic dikes - long, narrow cracks where lava pushed through and solidified.   Morning and evenings (the reference photo was taken in the evening), the low angle of the sun creates dramatic light and shadows on the formations.

My intention with this one was for it to be a quick study like the previous ones.  But I found myself so caught up in capturing that light and shadow that any sort of time limit went out the window.  What I did unintetionally limit was my palatte, to only 16 colors, and four of those were blues for the sky.  It's quite satisfying to see how well that worked.   But I think it's time for a better camera - the photo doesn't do it justice.

Grand Fountain Geyser

Grand Fountain Geyser 5 1/2x8 pastel, copyright 2012

A little bit north of Old Faithful in Yellowstone is another (somewhat) predictable large geyser, Grand Fountain Geyser.  We just happened upon it during an eruption, which usually lasts about one hour.  We didn't stay for all of it of course, but it was a rather dramtic one as water sprayed in several diractions at once, sometimes quite high.  Shallow terraced deposits have formed concentric pools around the geyser.  It's fascinating and little bit scary when these pools overflow almost to the boardwalk.

White on white is not an easy thing to paint.  The combination of spraying water and rolling steam make for a pretty dramatic view but a challenging subject.  Creating contrast to give it depth seems to be the key.  I used a lighter, yellow paper here, I'm wondering if it would work better on darker paper.

Along Yellowstone Lake

At the Edge of the Lake, 5 1/2x8 pastel, copyright 2012

This painting is from the same spot as the last one, but looking along the shore of Yellowstone Lake instead of across it.  I'm still finding reflections in water a bit tricky.  The images of the closer trees and the clouds turned out, but it's the distant images that I'm struggling with.  Maybe I'm being too self critical, but they just don't quite read right.  Part of the problem perhaps is that the distant tree line is too regular.  Making tree lines regular and symmetrical, especially distant ones, can be hard to avoid.  It seems the eye (and the hand) tends to create patterns where none exist.  More yellow in the foreground shoreline would help too.

This is certainly a learn as you go process in which I am finding both where I am doing well and where improvements need to be made.  This is the last small piece completed to this date, so I need to sit down and do more.  Although I know I need to work on my reflections more, the idea of trying a few geysers sounds like a lot of fun.  Maybe they will help me to loosen up my painting a bit and not fuss so much over the details.  We shall see.

Into Yellowstone

The Last Tree, 5 12/x8 pastel, copyright 2012

After the last little pastel I decided I needed some practice with reflections on water.  Creating a reflection in water is a bit different than it would be in a mirror.  The reflection tends to be slightly darker and not quite a clear.  There were a few times when I turned this one upside down to get a better feel for it.

The reference photo for this image was taken on our first day in Yellowstone National Park, not too long after coming through the East Entrance.  It was a very still morning, and Yellowstone Lake made nearly perfect reflections.  Our timing was perfect, as the wind picked up later in the day, and continued for the next few days, making the lake choppy.  I think this one is a good candidate for a larger image.  But I've thought that about most of my paintings so far!  

Yellowstone, by the way, is truely remarkable place.  It's hard to take a bad photo, and there are amazing things to see around every bend - it's one of those places that should be on everyone's bucket list.