Sunrise near Union Reservoir

My early morning experience from the last time was so pleasant I decided to go out again facing the opposite way and see what I could paint. I went to the hillside near another lake and painted the view as the sun was coming up near an old farmstead. I got there right before the sun actually came up and managed to get my basic colors blocked in beforehand and actually got to paint the sun as it emerged over the horizon. Then I had to work really fast before the clouds all changed color which they did rather rapidly. I finished up quickly and went home and back to bed for a little bit. Getting up at 5 is really hard. Sunrise. 8 x 10.

Sunrise at Macintosh Lake

Another early morning painting. The lake was in the foreground but I didn't use it. 

Pastel Dawn, 8 x 10, sold. 

2:30 Stop

The last stop of the day was the Garden of the Gods Visitor Center.  I finished my last painting in Manitou ahead of schedule so we had time to drive through the Garden of the Gods and look at all the red rock formations before wending our way to the Visitor Center. It was still early, and none of the other painters had arrived yet so we had time to tour the Visitor Center before I had to decide where to set up to paint. The place was packed with visitors and tourists.

 It was still baking hot outside and I didn't want to stand in the sun if I could avoid it. Winds were starting to pick up a bit too. After wandering across the parking lot I found a grassy hillside with scattered trees off the north edge of the parking area with a great large shady tree and a good view of Pikes Peak and the red rock formations in the foreground.  Another artist joined me there and we finished our last paintings of the day. Some of the artists chose to paint on the visitor center balcony in the hot sun, in the middle of the tourist crush, but that wasn't for me. I needed my shade.

At 5:00 we all gathered at the home of one of the painters and looked at everything everyone had painted, 45 paintings at least. They all turned out great.  Everyone was tired but it was a fun day and I had a great time.  View from Garden of the Gods, 8 x 10.

12 Noon Stop

The next stop was the town of Manitou Springs, a cute little town on the edge of Colorado Springs full of quaint buildings, tourist shops and restaurants. It's right up against the mountains kind of tucked into a narrow little dead-end valley. Traffic was pretty congested so we pulled off at a park near the edge of town.

After wandering around the park and up a steep side street I found this pink house with it's interesting colors and arches. I debated about painting this one or the neighboring red house with yellow trim but this one won out. It was blazing hot by then but I found some trees to setup my gear in the shade and I got to work. Pink House in Manitou, 10 x 8.

10:00 Stop

The next stop was on the grounds of a philanthropic society surrounded by flower gardens and ponds, alongside a stream running down from the mountains. I was finally caught up to the schedule and arrived on time.

The day was starting to heat up and this was the perfect place to be, heavily wooded,  cool, shady, with lots to choose from for painting ideas. The staff at the place told us that a bear with cubs had visited the garden earlier in the week. Luckily they were not there on this morning. We did see some deer. I thought about painting the iris but instead decided to paint the water lilies in one of the ponds. It was a great place to paint. After I was finished we had lunch in the shade before setting off to the next location.  Lilypads, 8 x 10.

7:30 Stop

Next place was the Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site. I got there a bit late, determined to make up time and I chose a scene looking into the sun at a low ridge to the east. Everyone else was already there working away on their paintings. The park has old farm buildings, a creek and some interesting rock formations, but I didn't have time to wander around or spend much time picking a view - I had to get moving and catch up.  Backlit Hillside, 8 x 10.

Painting Marathon

Last Saturday was an all-day painting marathon sponsored by the PAAC  (Plein Air Artists of Colorado) in Colorado Springs. They do one every year in different locations. Participants were to paint 5 paintings over the course of the day starting at 5:00 AM as the sun came up on Pikes Peak and ending at 5 in Garden of the Gods.

I decided to go and do this - I have never participated in one before. Nine artists had signed up to participate, some from Colorado Springs, some from other parts of the state. It was pretty hard to get to Colorado Springs by 5 AM since it's a 2 hour drive from home, but we managed to get there by 6. We had debated about driving down the night before but didn't have a chance to do so.

Everyone else was finishing up when we got there and the wind was fairly strong and gusty. I hunkered down behind the car, using it as a windbreak and sun break and set to work fairly quickly, hoping to catch up to the schedule at the next painting stop.  Here's my painting from the first stop - a view of the edge of Pikes Peak and the mountains lit by the early morning sun with a bit of Colorado Springs at the bottom.  Morning in Colorado Springs, 8 x 10.

High Water

I went down to the river to paint again last week. The water is still very high from the spring snowmelt in the mountains, and from the frequent rain we have been having, making the river basin higher than normal. I went to a place called the Peschell Open Space where the river meanders through various side streams and pond-like areas before once again meandering downstream in one channel. High Water, 8 x 10.

Meadow

I got a chance to go out last Tuesday for a bit and painted this in a grassy field near the river. These two trees caught my eye.  Hoped to get out later during the week but rain and work kept me away.  Meadow, 9 x 12.

Gold Iris

This year for the first time the gold iris in our front flower bed has decided to bloom. Last Sunday I decided to get up early and paint it as the early sunlight was starting to break through the trees and bushes in front of the iris. I  wanted to paint it when the sun was hitting the flowers and most of the background was still dark. This is the resulting painting. I was fairly pleased with it and had to work really fast before the sun got too high. The painting panels have been working a lot better since I coated them with a layer of toned Liquin over the gesso. I normally don't use Liquin when I paint. The panels are a little bit smoother and less absorbent. Gold Iris, 8 x 10.

Backbone Ridge

I went last week with a group of plein air painters to a place called Devil's Backbone Park. It's a long exposed sandstone ridge on the edge of the mountains that has a meandering hiking trail for 10 miles or so all along the east side.  Not wanting a straight on view, but looking for something a bit more dramatic, I hiked up next to one of the rock outcrops, being careful to watch for rattlesnakes along the way, and got a good view along the edge of the rock outcrop. The weather was patchy with clouds that kept coming and getting larger and eventually ended in rain, but by then I was starting to pack up my gear. Backbone Ridge, 9 x 12

Rabbit Mountain

I went back to Rabbit Mountain and did this painting of a view up the trail, looking into the morning sun. The  hillsides are still very much in their spring greens and haven't dried out and browned as they do eventually every summer as it gets hotter.  Rangers were nearby digging holes to install a new park sign and I was glad I was painting under a shaded overhang and not digging in the hot sun.
Horse riders and hikers passed me by as I painted. Skies were patchy with clouds and eventually clouded over to rain a bit.  Follow the trail, 8 x 10.

Green Reflections

The weather finally did clear up a bit and we've had at least some partially sunny and partially dry days. I got out to paint on Saturday morning - not sunny but at least sort of dry. I found a nice spot at the edge of a pond and set to work. Lots of wildlife was around on this cool slightly foggy morning, bunnies everywhere, a somewhat unconcerned wild turkey wandering about, and several geese families alarmed at my presence, but slowly getting used to it, while herding small families of small yellow babies around the pond. During the recent unrelenting rain I made up a whole batch of boards with canvas mounted on gator board and this is the first one I've tried to use. It makes a rougher surface which I am not sure I like.  Have to get used to it I guess.
Here's the picture - Green Reflections, 8 x 10. Also a picture of the turkey.

Snowy Banks

This painting was done in the studio from photos I took back in March.  ( See Plans Gone Wrong from earlier post)  It was the Saturday I attempted to paint up in the mountains and had my whole setup blown over by a big wind gust, and spilled my solvent. I didn't take any backup solvent along so that was it for the day.  I did have my camera and took a lot of pictures and I painted this last week from my reference photos. We've been having record breaking rain day after day this month with only a few clear days in between. Many times I have wanted to go out but just don't have the heart to huddle under a shelter trying to paint with day-long drizzles or downpours around me. It's been pretty cold too. We even had snow last weekend. Things are looking a little better for later this week so maybe I can get out Friday or this coming weekend. Come on sun! At least it is super green out and everything is blooming.  Snowy Banks, 9 x 12.

Back to the hills

Last week I went back to the hills at Sandstone Ranch and painted another painting of the same general area where I painted 'January Hills" back in the winter. This time it looks a lot greener. The bushes are starting to sprout and grasses are starting to fill in around the rocks and shrubbery. Trees now have new leaves on them. There are no real flowers blooming yet. I plan to go back in the summer and fall and do 2 more paintings and get a full set in the different seasons. Here is May Hills, 8 x 10. It was a kind of an overcast day, threatening rain, but I managed to finish without getting wet. Below is the one from January also.

Out my Back Door

I recently read about Greg Summers, an artist in Kansas who set up a painting challenge. The goal was to paint something within 100 feet of your back door and send it to his Facebook page where he published the whole set. The deadline was Nov. 30th of last year and I just found out about it this week. But it sounded like a fun thing to try so I did it anyway just for the challenge. Here's what I came up with:  The Playhouse, 8 x 10, plein air.

Spring Planting

Here's a place I sometimes pass when I go out to paint. I really liked the way it looked earlier this spring with a cloudless sky reflecting the intense blue overhead of me, which faded to the pale blue near the mountain horizon. The fields were all different colors, some plowed, some already growing, other areas not planted, and I decided I wanted to make a painting of it. Here's the result.  Spring Planting, 8 x 10.

PAAC show

I just recently joined the PAAC (Plein Air Artists of Colorado) and entered the annual show and was not sure I'd get anything accepted into the show. Thought I'd give it a try anyway. But I got one picture accepted into the show so I am happy about that.  The show this year is in the Mary Williams Gallery in Boulder Colorado and I think it starts on July 30th. Here's that painting. Icy Banks.

Antelope Springs

Here's another painting I did on our trip west. I painted this on a cholla cactus and sage covered hillside looking across the valley toward a small salt lake, with the dark wall of mountains behind. The place where I was painting is a local spring, where a few trees manage to survive, but instead of painting them I painted the scene across the valley. There is actually an earthquake fault along the base of the mountains which caused the uplift sometime in the past and cut off the valley from outside drainage. All the water now flows into the small lake which evaporates off, having no outlet. The sun was pretty bright even though it is still only spring.   Antelope Springs, 8 x 10, sold.

More from Rabbit Mountain

The first painting ( last blog entry)  took most of the morning and I was hungry for lunch but I thought I still had time to do a second quick picture before packing up. I turned around my easel and started painting in the opposite direction, with the valley to my back and the hillside slope in front of me. Up ahead was one of the typical gnarled pine trees on the grassy slope that are common here and a partial view of the rocky hills behind. The morning calm gave way to a gusty afternoon and made me wonder if my easel was going to blow over. I painted this relatively quickly, hanging onto my easel with one hand, and then packed up and headed home.  I think of all things, wind is worse than rain or cold weather for painting. Looking North, 9 x 12.

At Rabbit Mountain

Saturday weather was great and I was way overdue for painting outdoors. I set up at Rabbit Mountain and painted two pictures. The greens on the trees are just starting to appear. It looked very spring-like in an austere Colorado sort of way, and sort of overcast. Rabbit Mountain used to be called Rattlesnake mountain long ago and it is not uncommon to run into one along the trails. So, I was particularly watchful when setting out through the grass, since the snakes are out of their winter dens now that it has warmed up.  I saw many people out enjoying the trails, lots of birds and prairie dogs, but no snakes. Two days later a woman was bitten by a rattlesnake while hiking this same trail just up the road a little farther. She had to be airlifted out.  I'm glad I didn't run into any. This first picture I faced south looking down the valley. Looking South, 9 x 12.

Spring Snow

The weather changed and we had one of our spring snowstorms come in late yesterday dropping almost two inches of snow,  most of which melted right away leaving an inch or so on the grass and trees this morning. It looked beautiful and I went out to paint at a nearby pond with a view of the mountains. The sun was out so I knew it wouldn't last long so it was a race against the sun in getting my picture done before it would all change color from white to brown again. By the time I got there things were already starting to melt off.  By 10:30 or so almost all of it was gone except for the shaded areas. My hands got really cold, around 40 degrees.  Spring Snow, 9 x 12

Plans Gone Wrong.

I have been dying to go out painting all week but one thing after another messed up my plans. Yesterday I had planned to paint in the mountains along a very scenic stream that still had banks of snow. It looked great. I was excited. The sky was blue, the light was perfect. There was a slight breeze gusting occasionally but I didn't think it was that bad. Suddenly it picked up and blew away one of my paper towels.  I can't be letting paper towels blowing around littering up the mountains of course so I went after it. Well, while I was chasing the paper, my whole setup blew over, landing my paint in the dirt and emptying out my whole container of solvent. So that was that.  Lesson learned - always take along a small can of back-up solvent in the car.  Also weigh down the tripod with rocks or something.  But I did take a lot of pictures so I may do a studio painting from my shots.

So, since that didn't go well, I went out again today, just locally, to a different place along the river here in town. Grass is starting to green up a little bit. The willows turn very red in spring before they start budding. Greening, 8 x 10.

A Surprise

So this morning I went painting. It's a sunny warm morning and I finished my painting around 10:30 and began walking back up the dirt road toward my car - about a quarter mile away. It's kind of a steep road and I was wearing my big brimmed hat and kind of looking down at the road as I walked.  So I couldn't see too far ahead, maybe 4 feet or so.  Suddenly I realized there was a black object hurtling toward me down the road, just a few feet away. First thought: What's a cat doing out here in the middle of nowhere? Second thought OMG it's a SKUNK.

 It stopped right in front of me looking menacing. I backed up immediately, pretty fast I might add. It turned away and went racing on down the road the way I had come, vanishing around a corner, as fast as ever. What was it doing out in the middle of the day? And why was it racing around?   There are some rabid animals in the wild here and there, foxes, skunks,  maybe it was one of them. If so I was glad it continued on it's way without harming me. But it was really amazing to see up close.

Here's the painting I did last Sunday right before sunset. Red Willows, 8 x 10.

Rocks

Here's the other painting from last weekend. We hiked up into the foothills, a warm day but still lots of snow in the shadowed hillsides and I painted this painting. Snowy Outcrop, 8 x 10. I am still working on some large paintings for an upcoming April show so I may not be getting a chance to do many plein air paintings in the near future. I did do one yesterday and will put that up after it gets a chance to dry a bit. Weather is definitely turning spring-like so I am looking forward to more outdoor painting later this spring and summer.

Break in the Weather, at last.

Yay! Daylight savings has started and the 2 weeks of cold and snow have finally passed, and the weather is getting more spring-like. I went out this Saturday and painted a couple pictures. Here is the first one. I have been busy working on several large paintings for an upcoming show in April so I haven't had much time to do small paintings outdoors, and the blizzard-like conditions were a definite deterrent. Am looking forward to light in the evenings again.
 Icy Banks, 8 x 10. 

Overcast Winter Day

I finished this painting this last weekend also. Once again I painted from reference photos, since the weather has not really cleared up yet. I am not really good at painting outdoors in cold snowy weather, especially if it is windy. This is from a local hike near where I live. The day was pretty cold, the aftermath of the snow storm, but the sun was starting to come through.
Winter Sun, 8 x 10.

More from the Mountains

A big Arctic front moved in on Friday so all that balmy weather we have been having all winter is gone and now we've got the kind of weather that the East Coast has been experiencing. So my plans to go out painting this weekend were put on hold. I sat in Saturday while the blizzard was swirling outside, painting from my reference photos. I took a lot of photos of ice and frozen streams and have always liked the look of the mountain streams with the rocks and ice and pools of water. This is a painting I started earlier this week and finished yesterday, one of those rocky streams we hiked along.
River Rocks, 9 x 12.

Mountains and Shadows

I was at Rocky Mountain Park last weekend and hiked around taking pictures. We got there in the morning, just an hour drive away for us, and wandered around looking at the ice in the rivers and taking photos. Here's a painting I did from one of my photos. It was a relatively warm beautiful day for February. Out of the Shadows, 8 x 10. I just updated the photo for this one, since I was able to scan it.

Pink Sky

Here's a painting I've been working on for a few weeks.  It hasn't turned out exactly like I wanted it to be but it was sort of an educational experience. I wanted to do this picture with the foreground in shadow but wasn't sure exactly how dark it should be. My first attempt was not dark enough, still not sure if it is really dark enough now but didn't want to lose all the detail in the dark areas. Still - it's time to go onto other projects so I am going to stop here and maybe try another picture like this again some other time. It's a view off of Rabbit Mountain looking toward the southwest. Pink Sky, 12 x 16.