Mt. Assiniboine-Early Morning-Canadian Rockies

There comes a time in a painting…….I guess in life also, when enough is enough, when it is finished, you are done. For me it is the biggest challenge to step back and not add any more paint, not fill in any more white spaces, be satisfied with what I have created. This afternoon I decided to work on Assiniboine, no real plan, just see where the journey takes me. I mixed together some old and new Sepia to create a really dark paint and began filling in the mountain on the left and at the same time adding some Cobalt blue in the foreground for the crevasses on the glacier. I'm happy with what has been created. In the background listening to "Jack Johnson, Greatest Hits".

Mt. Assiniboine-Early Morning-Canadian Rockies
24" x 18"
$500

Mt. Assiniboine-Early Morning-Canadian Rockies

There comes a time in a painting where you really have to commit, where you take the plunge and say "I'm going in". It's time to start painting the mountain that is not in the sun in dark sepia mixed with a bit of cobalt blue. The paint has to be thick and dark to give a contrast to the bright areas. As I am painting this I know that I will soon need to work on the foreground, which is in the shadows and needs to be even darker. As mentioned earlier, Sepia is very much a staining pigment so is very unforgiving if you make a mistake.
In the background listening to Jim Cuddy, Skyscraper Soul. Love the peaks and valleys in this music.

Mt. Assiniboine-Early Morning-Canadian Rockies

It's hard to believe that two weeks has gone by since I lifted up a brush. Work has been busy, and time as a hockey Dad and husband have been filling the days with many activities. Each morning I have been outside watching as the rising sun bathes the peaks in early morning light. The contrast from light to dark is so powerful, and I want my painting to capture that magical moment before the full force of the sun hits the peaks.

I put another wash of my blue mix over the mountain, leaving the area where the morning light is hitting alone. I then add to the mix a heavy dose of sepia, a very dark, staining paint that will give true definition, contrast and depth. I am using a very small, angled brush to create the angled areas of rock. Many times I step back from the painting and view it from different distances and angles to make sure there is shape and form to the peak.
In the back ground I am listening to Salty Dog, "Live Your Life".

Mt. Assiniboine-Early Morning-Canadian Rockies

I've just returned from a business trip to Denver and got in late last night. After a fitful sleep, time with family, I decided it was time to begin painting again. As both pieces I've been working on are a bit large and require a lot of paint I felt it made sense to now just work on one at a time so I did not run out of colours as I used them.

I must of spent 30 minutes planning out how to do the morning glow in the sky, and how to follow with the darker areas out of the sun. I  mixed New Gamboge with Cadmium Yellow and Alazarin crimson. On the bottom image you can see where I have tested various shades of this with earlier tests of the sky. Afterwards I also diluted the sky mix with water and added a bit of Sepia to give it an edge.

As painting on canvas requires you to work quickly as the colours tend to bleed I painted the pink morning sky, quickly dried it with a hair dryer then painted the shaded foreground. Time to let it dry and plan the next phase. In my studio I am listening to Sting "All This Time".
Bob