A friend of mine works at the Cariboo Lodge, up the road from Valemount, B.C. in the Cariboo Mountains. I was at the lodge a month or so ago and we were outside, looking down the valley at the Canoe Glacier and the Cariboo Mountains. We talked of my art, I showed him some of my recent works from files on my computer, and he asked if I could do a painting for him. There is a large photo in the lodge featuring the peaks and ice of the Canoe Glacier. A stunning photo.......he asked me if I could paint it. I do not usually paint from other people's works, but this presented a huge challenge due to the size and detail of the photo. I said yes.
I took some photos of the picture from a variety of angles. It was difficult to capture the right image, as it is framed with glass that reflects all the light/images in the hallway it is in. Once home, I spent quite a bit of time studying the various photos I took, getting a feel for the landscape, the vastness of the scene, and planning out how I was going to do the painting.
My friend wanted a fairly large canvas, so I began work on a 36" x 18" piece. The first step is to draw a few lines of the horizon, also capturing a few key parts of the foreground. I then painted masking fluid by brush on the line between mountain and sky.
As you work on a painting it takes on a personality with each brush stroke and addition of color. I painted in the sky, and once it dried, peeled off the masking fluid. There is now a crisp definition between earth and sky, and the mountains really start to take shape.
The next stage is to start looking at shading in areas to show where the sun is coming from. Also, with all the ice/snow/crevasses, I will start mapping out all the different shades and hues.
Robert Krysak
No comments:
Post a Comment