A number of years ago (feels like 6, must be 10) I tried painting on location from the bridge in Mineral King. I had no instruction and no idea of how to proceed.
Painting in Mineral King in 2007 – it was TWELVE YEARS AGO! (I still have that shirt.)
Trail Guy and I walked to the bridge and inspected the views and possible areas to set up. The bridge is narrower now, so setting up on it is asking to be hit by someone’s rearview mirror, or moving every time a car comes.
This is from the bridge, a perfect scene, but one that can only happen via photos or with lots of trotting back and forth across the bridge. (There is no bridge troll, so it could work.)
This was about the only option, in spite of the uneven ground.
The stream didn’t really show despite being on a bridge. Too many willows.
The juniper blocks the top of Vandever, so I moved it.
Once again, I relied on the sketch to tell me what to include and what might fit.
First, the underpainting.
Second, the greens. Looks terrible, but has promise at this stage.
Better.
It’s kind of interesting to see the evolving canvas and the scene in one shot.
Suddenly, I was tired of dealing with uneven ground, people stopping by, and painting outside, so I packed it up and walked back to the cabin to finish.
I’ve painted this scene about 50 or 60 times, and drawn it in pencil at least a dozen more. So, I felt confident finishing it up at home.
Almost finished.
“Crowley Cabin”, 8×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, $125.
