Devils Tower

Spirit of the Bear, 16x20 pastel, copyright 2012

Northwest of the Black Hills is the iconic Devils Tower, the remaining core of ancient volcano long since eroded away.   It stands in the middle of a valley, surrounded by red sandstone and prairie while the Belle Fourche River meanders at its base.  We took the shorter of the paths around the monument where aspen and pine predominate.

The monument is considered sacred to many Native American tribes, most of whom associate its unusual formation with the claw marks of a bear.  Throughout the forest many prayer bundles can be seen.  These are small offering tied to the trees in brightly colored cloths.   

Most images of the monument include only the tower itself, but I liked the idea of seeing it in its environment, as a part of a bigger landscape.  I still haven't decided, however, if I should remove some of the leaves to make it more visible.  But I am pretty happy with how the trunks and branches of the aspen turned out.

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.

Starting to get it

Rain Moving Across the Mountains,  5 1/2x8 pastel, copyright 2012

So this is how you paint mountains!  I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of it now.  A strong contrast between light and shadow seems to be lot of the trick, at least if you really want the mountains to pop forward dramatically.  A bit more care in defining the highlighted snow helps.  And perhaps the much darker color of the paper makes a difference too, as I felt like I was using the color rather than trying to cover it up.

The most difficult part of this one was the foreground lake, which looked more like ice and snow than water.  It took a while, but I finally figured out that it was too light - lighter than the sky in fact, something which is generally only true for snow.  Painting choppy waters still eludes me a bit, though contrary to my pervious post I'm back to enjoying the smaller format.  Obviously I have yet to embrace the idea that these should be studies rather than finished paintings, but I just can't help myself, especially when it comes to painting the sky!

By the way, I'm still in Grand Teton National Park for this one.  If you ever find yourself in Yellowstone or Jackson Hole, it's worth a day trip to check out this park.  The mountains are amazingly picturesque and there are many lakes and rivers to reflect their images.  Not surprisingly, there are a number of plein air events and we spotted a few artists working away to capture a little piece of the grandeur.  I'd love to be able to join them someday.

Still learning

Across the Valley,  5 1/2 x 8 pastel, copyright 2012

I'm still working out how to paint mountains and create a sense of space with this one.  The middle ground aspens seem disproportionally small, though it might be the foreground sagebrush that is the problem.  It isn't detailed enough, which somehow makes it appear larger.  At least the mountains are bit better.  It's hard to decide how much detail they need, though perhaps a bit more shadow would help.  It was rather overcast and dull when this reference photo was taken, which doesn't help in creating a bit of drama.

By this time I'm starting to get a bit frustrated with the smaller scale of these paintings.  They are not intended to be "finished" pieces and I need to get past that frustration and have a mind set that they are only studies meant to give a general impression of the place.

Judging distance

Beyond the Aspen, 5 1/2 x 8 pastel, copyright 2012

Staying in Grand Teton National Park, this is from a photograph was taken a short distance from the first one, just the opposite end of the same parking area.  All the trails here were roped off due to "wildlife activity", i.e. black bears with cubs.  We didn't see any of them.  

Because this one was a bit more complicated, I gave myself 30 minutes on the timer.  The greens are more appropriate, not so bright and varied.  Getting a sense of distance was the challenge here.  In Ohio one can typically see a few miles at most due to the rolling hills and trees, so it takes a big adjustment to create a big space.  Generally speaking, duller, cooler (blue) colors show distance and brighter, warmer (red/yellow) colors are used for closer objects.  The cooler grey-green of the ever present sagebrush in front presents a bit of a problem, but reddish purples in the shadows helps.

Mountains have their own set of challenges.  They dominate the landscape, yet are often far in the distance.  Deciding how much they should dominate a painting dictates both color choices and the amount of detail needed.  Undoubtably it takes a bit of practice to get the balance right.

Looking back through my old paintings before posting this one, I've discovered that this is the first time I have attempted to paint a snow capped mountain.