Fall Colors Trip 2021

 

This fall we took a quick trip to Lake City and Crested Butte to catch some golden aspens.  This area has been on my list for a few years and finally the smoke cleared from all the summer wildfires.  We had some stunning scenes.  Even the kids brought their Ipads with them to take some shots too!

Painting - Rocky Mountain Bull Elk

This is my latest painting of an autumn landscape with a big bull elk bugling.  It represents what I view as a classic Colorado fall scene.  The elk reference I used in this picture was taken from a photograph I took years ago in Rocky Mountain National Park.  The autumn landscape was taken near the Silverthorne/Vail area on a fall colors photography trip, while the sagebrush in the foreground was taken from yet another photograph.  Putting all these images together in a rough composite allowed me to tweak the composition exactly the way I wanted it.  I then adjusted the lighting so they fit together.  Artist license... it's allowed!

Elk reference photo

Inpiration background photo

Photoshopped reference photo

 Recently, I have been working on my technique with the goal to paint faster without sacrificing quality.  I try to use a larger brush for much of the piece to fill in sections faster giving the illusion of texture and detail, especially in the background.  Another thing that I'm learning is that using a solid reference photograph goes a long way toward creating that realistic, engaging image.  It's fun to compare images from the past to see how you've grown as an artist.  Below is a similar painting I completed when I was in college 15 years ago.  Side by side with this current one, you can see a lot of technical improvements:

15 years ago

Today

Last, here's a complete time-lapse video of the entire painting process:

Four Seasons Mountain Photography

This past year, we visited specific scenic locations four different times throughout the year.  We chose easily accessible, yet scenic areas of Colorado to shoot all four seasons.  These photographs represent what I believe to be iconic views of our mountains with aspens or other foliage in the foreground to show the changing of the colors in the different seasons.  The first area is the Sawatch Range of central Colorado near the towns of Leadville and Buena Vista:

4 Seasons on Mt. Elbert - The tallest mountain in Colorado

4 Seasons - Cabin reflection

4 Seasons - Colorado 14er Mt. Yale

4 Seasons - Colorado 14er mt. Princeton

 The second location was close to home.  Rocky Mountain National Park and the Front Range are within an hour of our home, so naturally it works well for us to take day trips to get to these spots easier:

4 Seasons - Bear Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park

4 Seasons - Hallett and Flattop Mountain

4 Seasons - The Boulder Flatirons

4 Seasons - Longs Peak

Prints of each individual image in these collages is also available on it's own.  Check out my four seasons gallery link below for all the photographs:

4 Seasons Gallery

Fall Colors Trip 2018 - Twin Lakes and Rocky Mountain National Park

Reflection on a beaver pond near Twin Lakes

This year we took the whole family to camp at Twin Lakes near Leadville.  This is now one of my favorite spots to camp.  The fishing wasn't good, but we didn't care cause the views were awesome.  I'm starting a four seasons series of photographs from this area, so we'll be visiting here again throughout the year. There were absolutely 0 clouds the whole trip.  Most photographers don't like clear skies, but I personally like the plain bright blues against the golden yellows.  Plus, it makes for unbelievably clear starry night photos!  Below are some of my favorite images from the past couple trips.  Hope you like them!

Beaver Pond with 14er Mt. Elbert and hills of gold

Old Cabin in the town of Twin Lakes

Pano of Twin Lakes with aspen grove

Super clear night with the Milky Way easily visible to the naked eye.

Trickling falls high in the forest of RMNP

Sunrise on Hallett Peak and Glacier Creek

Painting - Rocky Mountain Road

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

Painting - Aspen Leaf Progression

Just finished a series of watercolor paintings of an aspen leaf as it changes colors in the fall.  I used the same leaf template for all four images.  The first leaf (left) is summer green.  The second is half turned from green to orange/yellow.  The third leaf is showing the peak autumn color, and the fourth is withered brown from when the season ends. 



Click on the images below to view on the artist website/order prints:

Aspen Trees - Mixed Media Art Project

Who doesn't love Rocky Mountain golden aspen trees!  This project can be done anywhere from 1st - 5th grade and is super easy to follow along with.  Some of the art concepts covered include: overlapping, shadows/light source, splattering technique, and positive/negative space.


Step 1:

Draw vertical lines with a pencil to create the first tree. Add diagonal lines behind the first tree to add two more.  Add another in the corner.  Then add lines coming from the tree trunks for branches.

Step 2:

Now, paint in the negative space with a black water based paint.

Step 3:

Next, splatter wet, black paint all over the picture to give the aspens their spotty texture.  

Step 4: 

Then, outline the edges of the trees over the original pencil lines with oil pastel (or something dark) to make them stand out.

Step 5:

Finger paint using a thick acrylic yellow/orange paint to add leaves between the tree branches.

All done!

Here are a few student examples from 2nd grade: