Cougar Peak #181

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

For today's painting I wanted to really emphasize that early morning light filling up the canyon. I started my image out on white paper, doing a sketch with some bright red and orange pastels. After that was completed I came back in with my acrylics working on blocking out some of my main shadow shapes, working on keeping the shadow cool and purple and the sunlight areas bright and yellow.

Also this again finishes up the month of June, so here once again is an image of thumbnails covering the month as a whole...enjoy!

Cougar Peak #180

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

On this painting I started out on a piece of tan paper and then came in over the top with some black and white pastel and sort of a greenish yellow. After my sketch was complete I came back in over the top of with my acrylics, keeping myself locked into a limited color palette.

Cougar Peak #179

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

For this image I started out with a quick sketch in pastel using colors as well as black. I then sealed it and came back over the top it it with may paints, trying to capture a bit of that evening light and some of the contrast on the mountain.

Cougar Peak #178

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

Another beautiful summer morning on the mountain. I love how the canyon gets bathed in bright greens, and then later in the evening its shrouded in deep blues and purples. Even if the weather is not changing the look of the mountain is constantly changing with the light.

Cougar Peak #177

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

Another beautiful day again, except for the fact that we had a frost that killed most of the garden. The snow has melted off again leaving the mountain free to bask in the warm light of evening.

Cougar Peak #176

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

Today we were treated with a bit of fresh snow on the mountain....so much for summer. Anyways, it was a delightful change, and a surprise, especially for this late in June. For this image I started out directly painting on a piece of gray paper, blocking out my shapes as usual, and then coming back in with the details.

Cougar Peak #175

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

I enjoyed working on the piece of tan paper yesterday, so I decide to paint on another chunk of it again today. Again with this image I jumped directly into the painting process, blocking out shapes and concentrating on trying to capture that midday sunlight.

Cougar Peak #174

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

This evening the sun was beautiful as it laid along the side of the mountain. This image was painted on a piece of tan paper, so I had a nice base to work off of. I decided to forgo the sketch and just begin to lay down paint, trying to keep my strokes quick and bold, so that I might be able to retain and capture some of the mountain's energy.

Cougar Peak #173

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

The sky was a bit overcast when I started on this image, but the mountain was colored in these wonderful blues and purples. So for this image I tried to capture some of those colors.

Cougar Peak #172

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

There was a wonderful cloud resting up on top of the peak that had these great swirls going on....so I decided to have fun with this image a bit and enhance that characteristic of the clouds. Also I decide to come back in over the top as I did a few previous posts back and work in part of my sketch again, but this time I decide to make the parts of the mountain really angular to hopefully contrast it against the clouds.

Cougar Peak #171

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic/Pastel on Paper

For this painting I ended up spending a bit more time on the sketch phase of the painting, working up a lot of my colors and values with pastel. After I had my pastel the way I liked it, I scaped over the top of the image using a palette knife and some gloss medium. Finally to top it off I came back in with some acrylic washes, building up colors and values, where I thought the painting needed it.

Cougar Peak #170

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

With this image I decided to start working on my painting first, and then come back in over the top of that with my sketch. Also tried to lighten up the value in the valey a bit, while experimenting with leaving bits of the white paper showing through.

Cougar Peak #169

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Klondike Bar Wrapper

I was in the process of devouring a Klondike Heath Bar, when I noticed the wonderful texture and feel of the wrapper.....so it was not long before I was taping it to my board and spreading acrylic paint all over it. Icecream and painting, what a wonderful combination!

Cougar Peak #168

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Tyvek

This painting again was done on Tyvek...as you can see. It is really a lot of fun to paint on, but then again I get excited easily, especially when it comes to painting material, anything is free game if paint will stick on it. This painting captures one of those spring rains that have been moving through as of late.

Cougar Peak #167

4.75" x 6.75" Digital

For this image I decided to do another Photoshop painting. Again I put down my main shapes first and then came in pushing and pulling values, as well as experimenting with different color combinations, until I can arrive with something pleasing.

Cougar Peak #166

4.75" x 6.75" Digital

For this image I wanted to capture that depth and atmosphere that you can get at times with rain and fog. I started out in Photoshop laying in my main shapes, building up my values, once that was done I painted in the finishing details and highlights.

Cougar Peak #165

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

Today the sky was a bit overcast, probably signs of impending doom. For this image I decided to forgo my sketch with pencil and worked up a quick sketch with my paints. After this was completed I rubbed the painting down with some Transparent Red Oxide, and then started to build up my painting from there.

Cougar Peak #164

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

Another beautiful morning as the sunlight gently spread a blanket of light over the mountain. For this image I started out with a quick sketch with a purple pencil, and then started working in my shapes with a larger brush, and once again finishing off the image with a smaller brush.

Cougar Peak #163

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

For this image I used sort of the same technique as the previous post. I started out doing a quick sketch with a purple pencil and then started working on my main shapes with with a a large flat brush, and after that I came back in with a smaller brush and finished out the barn, tree, and smaller details.

Cougar Peak #162

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

Finally the rain has subsided, and the mountain has gone back to being covered in golden rays of sunlight. For this image I used a larger flat brush, and painted a bit more dry with my paints, which gave me a nice dry brush technique in places. I tried to stay with larger shapes and build up my forms that way, instead of going in and detailing everything. Also I decided to pop the color just a bit more to really accentuate the changes between blues, greens, oranges, etc....

Cougar Peak #161

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

While I was doing today's painting there was a really nice rain storm crossing over the mountain. Again for this image I decided to forgo the sketch and just start painting directly. With a few quick marks I was able to lay in my main diagonals and shapes, but I wanted to concentrate on the storm at hand.

Cougar Peak #160

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

Today the sky is a bit overcast, so there are no striking contrasts on the peak. I started this image with a sketch in blue pencil and then worked over the top of that with pastels and conte. Once that stage was completed I came in then with my acrylics and started working in my different values and colors.

Cougar Peak #159

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Tyvek

This evening the mountain was lit up in those wonderful warm hues, while the canyon was lost in shadows of purple and blue. I enjoy the exteme contrasts between the colors and the values, as it helps to really push the form of the mountain in a different direction.

Cougar Peak #158

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Tyvek

Last night the valley was hammered with some much needed moisture. This morning the peak was letting off billows of steam and mist that would rise and swirl about until it connected with a larger cloud. This painting is again on Tyvek, not much of the mountain was showing through this morning except for some interesting little wedges that would pop up now and then, so I tried to encorporate those into a pleasing composition.

Cougar Peak #157

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Tyvek

Today I worked up another image on Tyvek. Everything was wet this morning and there was a blanket of clouds hanging over the top of the mountain. Again with this image I decided to just start the painting process and skip the sketch stage, so as to not have any sketch lines show through. The paint on the Tyvek doesn't dry as quick as acrylics usually do on other surfaces, so it allows you to to a bit more blending than usual.

Cougar Peak #156

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Tyvek

For this painting, I experimented with painting my image on Tyvek, which my friend Wade ended up hooking me up with a free sample. Tyvek is a material that they usually use in home construction now days to seal your house from water, but still allowing you house to breath (like Gortex, but for your house)....anyways it's bright, white, paint sticks to it, stains it, doesn't soak up though so you can rub off and smear, indestructible, nice texture and sheen.......and just plain fun to paint on!

Cougar Peak #155

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

There was a wonderful looking rain storm passing through today as I began to paint. I soaked my paper pretty heavily to begin with, and then started painting the mountain directly forgoing any sort of sketch. I then laid in the barn and the lone tree, drying them with a hair dryer, and then coming back in and darkening the values on them a bit more.

When I scanned it in and got what is I think my first "scanner happy accident." Usually my scanner is making it harder on me picking up dirt, paint, etc.....but my paper must have not been completely dry, and it created a fog on my glass that blurred the mountain in places when I scanned it....I thought it looked cool, so I decided to leave it.

Cougar Peak #154

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

The mountain lit up this evening in it's usual splendor. For this image I again started my initial sketch stage with just painting in a loose outline of my shapes and then filling in and detailing everything from that.

Cougar Peak #153

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

Today the temperature was in the high 90's and tomorrow will be pushing 100 degrees. It's hard to imagine that not too many days ago that it was snowing. For this image I did a quick sketch with my paints and then jumped directly into painting. I tried to keep everything fast and loose, trying to constantly keep my brush moving.

Also today, since it was so beautiful out, I decided to go hiking and scale the heights of Cougar Peak.....and so I thought I would share with you the view from up top, and what it looks like staring down upon my studio. Enjoy!!

Valley ----- Clouds ----- Lookout ------ Sign ----- Snowy Mountains Rock ------ Graves Creek ------ Deep Creek ------ Lookout Closeup

Cougar Peak #152

4.75" x 6.75" Digital

This morning I decided to jump back onto Photoshop and do a bit of digital artistry. The sun was popping up over the hill and lighting up the canyon, while the rest of the peak was being hid in shadow. I started laying down my big masses as always, playing with texture and shapes, not being too picky about colors at this point, but just working on my values. I then came in with a smaller brush and started putting in details, and deciding on colors and highlights.