Sunday, January 28, 2018

Painting - Rocky Mountain Road

Acrylic painting of aspens and and old dirt road in the San Juan Mountains by artist Aaron Spong


This fall I took a drive on one of Colorado's increasingly not-so-hidden gems called Last Dollar Road.  Its a rough 2 wheel drive that goes from the Dallas Divide to Telluride.  It is increasing in popularity for good reason.  The views of the aspen groves and 14,000 ft. landscapes are top notch.  One of the spots along the drive has an aspen stand with a winding country road and snow capped mountains in the distance.  All the elements you need for a great painting/photograph come together in this single composition.

This 16x20 painting was an experiment with a palette knife.  I've watched other artists use palette knives to quickly apply paint on canvases.  The knife makes a very unique look and texture where the paint is gobbed on thick.  I'm still not sure how I feel about the tools, but it was a fun experiment and worthy of further attempts.


Here's the photograph used for reference:

"Telluride Road" by Aaron Spong