Sierra Morning

I started this painting a couple of years ago, but I put it on the dog pile to recycle. Today I dug it out and reworked it.  The location is in the Gem Lakes area in the Eastern Sierra, at Chickenfoot Lake. It is a view that has been painted many times. I may still decide that it belongs on the dog pile or that I'll rework it again, but for now I'll leave it be.  18x12", Oil on Linen.  

Sierra Afternoon

12x16", Oil on Linen  

Sierra Headwaters

From a recent backpacking trip in the Eastern Sierra.  14x11", Oil on Linen. Available at Holton's Gallery.

Sierra Glow

From a recent backpacking trip to Chicken Foot Lake in the Eastern Sierra.  12x9", Oil on Linen. SOLD.

Alpine Cathedral

This was painted based on a study painted last summer in the high eastern Sierra, in the Gem Lakes area.  We are getting ready now for this year's pack trip, I can't wait to get back up in the mountains.  20x10" Oil on Linen.  Available for purchase at Holton's.

Alpine Morning

I am finally able to paint again, and I do feel a bit rusty. This seemed to be a nice warm-up subject for a smaller painting. This was from a study painted on last year's Sierra trip. 18x14", Oil on Linen

Sierra Sunrise

I just returned from a week-long hiking and painting backcountry trip in the eastern Sierra. This year we chose the Chickenfoot Lake/Gem Lakes area of the John Muir Wilderness, up Rock Creek, between Mammoth Lakes and Bishop. The elevation was around 10,500 feet or so, high enough to make my face puffy in the mornings. The area was amazing with a wonderful diversity of painting subject. It was a little overwhelming at first, it always takes me a day or two to settle in and not scrape everything down. There were ten of us in all -- 7 oil painters, 2 pastel painters, and one photographer: Ernesto Nemesio, Bill Cone, Paul Kratter, Jim Wodark, Timon Sloan, Robert Watters, Terry Miura, Daniel Aldana, and Michele de Braganca. We were packed in by the Rock Creek Pack Station and fed by Gene, one of their excellent cooks. Great weather, superb company, yummy food, and beautiful views. Paradise. I have posted 10 studies that I finished while on the trip. I have a few more that I didn't finish, that I may post later if I can finish them from my photo reference.

Sunrise was roughly at 6am and hit the mountain like this study at about 6:15, which meant getting up about 5:30 to be set up and ready for it. The light moved very quickly and the colors were rapidly changing; great practice for keeping things simple. Study 10x8", Oil on Linen

Morning Backlight Study

I painted this study more as an exercise than as a study for a final painting. Study 10x6", Oil on Linen

Slice Of Morning Light

I liked the way a thin swath of sunlight came through the gap between two mountains early in the morning. I roughed in this study one morning and finished it a couple of days later. When I came back to it with fresh eyes, I found that a lot of my color was way off, not sure what I was thinking at the time. Sometimes all it takes is having one off color that everything else starts keying off of and suddenly the whole piece is strange. This view was painted from the meadow by Chickenfoot Lake, a few steps from our campsite. The mosquitos were particularly fond of this time of the morning before the sun hits the meadow. Fortunately though, the mosquitos were more fond of Ernesto than they were of me. At one point I had at least 8 mosquitos embedded in the painting and about 20 on my palette. Study 10x8", Oil on Linen.

Sierra Morning

Terry Miura and Paul Kratter had already painted this view before I did and I loved both of their studies so I wanted to try it too. The lake in the background is Chickenfoot Lake. The fields of snow coming down to meet the water are beautiful elements to paint, but are intimidating to design around. The blues tend to go a bit electric when digitally photographed, so this looks a little off in color from the actual painting. Study 10x8", Oil on Linen

Chickenfoot Lake Morning

One of the mornings was quite windy. I chose to paint this little scene near our campsite largely because it was in the lee of a hill and relatively calm. The sunlight hitting the jewel tones of the water was also very appealing. Study 10x6", Oil on Linen.