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| Painting the peak—working with a palette knife. |
Pinnacles National Park is a group of rock spires and crags that rise out of the Gabilan Mountains in central California. Tectonic plate movements and the subsequent erosion of of the rocks caused these monolithic forms.
I camped on the eastern side of the park and on the Friday morning with backpack, canvas and painting paraphernalia, I hiked the gradual ascent up the Condor Gulch trail. About a mile along the trail I found this view of Hawkins Peak framed by some raggedy pines.
On the first day of painting the weather was slightly overcast, which lent a brooding atmosphere to the scene. On the second day, in which I resolved the painting, the sky was a more typical Californian clear blue sky. Fortunately I had pretty much laid down the sense of light I was after on the first day, so the second day was more about refining the details. Below you can see the stages as I worked on the painting.
I met some interesting folks on the trail, including some mountain climbers, a park volunteer and a photographer. But the grand finale to the painting trip at the end of the second day was the sight and sound of the california condors as they flew over the gulch which is so aptly named in their honor.
The painting in process
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| Blocking in the composition. |
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| Adding the color masses. |
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| Refining the forms. |
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| The final painting—Hawkins Peak from Condor Gulch. |
To see the painting process step by step is awesome. And the Condors.... California's got it all.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part is seeing the progress of the painting. It helps me see all the surprisingly different stages, from which the final product is hard or impossible to draw out. When the final product appears, it is all the more appreciated. It makes me think a lot about faith actually.
ReplyDeleteI also really like the pictures of you painting in the actual landscape or the landscape itself, as the painting then looks like something distinct from merely being a representation of what is there, but all the ways in which paint add to it. Seeing you in the picture help me to see more clearly the painting as an physical object that you have a direct hand in and relationship with.
Your words are nice too! I like how there aren't too much, but when it's there, your distinct voice shows through. It adds another level of experience with the painting.
Thanks Janice for your feedback. It's good to get feedback from a writer, as you are processing and interpreting life from a different perspective. I look forward to seeing more of your writing and poetry over the coming year. Feel free to post some on my blog if you think it has a tie in to any of my paintings. David
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