Cougar Peak #212

4.75" x 6.75" Oil on Paper

Once again, another beautiful evening, and the mountain as always shines in that golden light. For this painting I decide to switch over to my oils paints once again. I had a bit of paint still left on my palette that I gotten dry and stiff, I used that and a bit of new paint to work up a nice thick application, blocking in my main shapes and then coming back in at the end to work in my details.

Also, this marks the end of the month of July, so here once again is a thumbnail image showing all of the paintings for the entire month together.

Cougar Peak #211

4.75" x 6.75" Pastel on Paper

For today's image I wanted to play with a bit more with my pastels. The temperature has been so hot lately that I just did not feel like getting out the acrylics, and for some reason pastels just seem to me like a great hot weather medium. On this image I actually started out doing a sketch a with a prismacolor pencil, and then I came back in over the top with pastel, until I was happy with my impression of today's evening light.

Cougar Peak #210

4.75" x 6.75" Prismacolor/Pastel/Acrlyic on Paper

Hola!!....for some reason this painting feels like a Mexican fiesta. The colors are a bit wild, and the strokes are a bit loose, but as always it was a lot of fun. I started this piece out doing a quick pencil sketch. After that was completed I came back in over the top of the pencil with a sienna colored prismacolor pencil. Once I had completed that secondary sketch I then came in back over the top of that with pastel, sealed it, and then finally worked some acrylic back over the top of that. So this image turned into a celebration of color and mediums.

Cougar Peak #209

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

On this beautiful morning I started out on a wing of black.......or a Blackwing 602 that is. The Blackwing is pencil with a 4B lead that many consider to be the most perfect pencil ever made, and they are willing to back up that claim by the enormous price they are willing to pay for the few remaining pencils, since they are no longer in production.

So with my Blackwing in hand I did my initial sketch, just trying to get the creative juices going, not sure in which direction I would take today's painting. Finally I decided to finish my image using acrylics, using my similar method of laying in the big shapes and then working smaller from there.

Cougar Peak #208

4.75" x 6.75" Digital

A really beautiful evening tonight, everything was lit up in oranges and reds, falling into shadow hues of purple and blue. I decided to work digital tonight in Photoshop. To begin with I filled my canvas with a sienna type fill, then over the top of that (working on a new layer) quickly laid in a sketch. For the next part I laid in the shadows of the canyon, and a blocked in the open hillsides that were catching the light. Finally I went in and worked in all the details, pushing and pulling values, and of course adding in the barn and the tree.

Cougar Peak #207

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

This morning the mountain had a wonderful crisp clean feeling to it. I quickly laid out a sketch loosely with my paints, and then came back in with a bigger brush, concentrating on getting those darker shadows down lower on the peak. After that was done I concentrated on the lighter values of the canyon and the top of the mountain, filling in final details, and of course the barn and the tree.

Cougar Peak #206

4.75" x 6.75" Pastel/Acrylic on Paper

Again the mountain was presented in pristine quality as we have had for so many days this month, bathed in those long hot summer rays. For this plein air I spent a lot of time working up a sketch in pastel. After that was completed I sealed my pastel, and then came back in with acrylic over the top, laying in highlights, and pushing and pulling the values a bit where I thought they needed it.

Cougar Peak #205

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

Another beautiful morning on the mountain, with the morning light bathing the mountain in rays of splendid colors. I started with a large flat brush quickly laying in some of the main shapes and values, and then came in with a smaller brush building up the detail and highlights.

Cougar Peak #204

4.75" X 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

Today was another one with temperatures over 100 degrees, and the sky had this great purple haze. I started this painting with a quick sketch in acrylic, trying to capture a bit of that purple. After that I laid in the sky and used it as sort of a started for the rest of the painting, limiting myself to a small palette of colors.

Cougar Peak #203

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

Smoke, smoke, and more smoke....today as you can see is really smoky out, lots of fires in the area. Hopefully they don't shut the forest down soon, which they are prone to do anymore, to protect all of their overgrown diseased trees......anyways, thats another subject. For this image I did an intial smoky wash over my paper to get a nice mid value and then just slightly darkened my paints to lay in the mountain. After that I came back in with the usual highlights, barn, tree, etc..

Cougar Peak #202

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

These summer mornings are most enjoyable, especially the light, the smells, and the stillness in the air. The mountain as always stood there, bathed in the morning light, just waiting to be painted. For this painting, as I have done of late, started out with loose sketch with my paints, and from there blocked in the rest and came back in with the details. I seem to end up capturing the mountain a a little bit different time each day, and it is amazing how the light temperature, shadow, etc...can change so quickly. It is always fascinating trying to be able to capture those subtle differences.

Cougar Peak #201

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

Another beautiful morning with the mountain standing tall to greet me. For today's painting I started out with a quick sketch in acrylic, and then started as always laying in the bigger masses of value and then coming back in and filling in the details. Even know the mountain is beginning to slowly change colors as we start heading into mid summer. Everything will begin to dry and and die, changing from the greens of life to the yellows, browns, oranges and reds of fall.

Cougar Peak #200

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

WAHOO!!!....another milestone, at least one for me. I think the century mark always carries significance in no matter what you are really doing. I know getting to the 100 mark was big, and the 200 mark is equally as fulfilling. For this image I worked most of my painting with thin washes and then came in with more opaque painting in parts...I purposefully left little bits of white on the image that I thought added nice touches, similar to that of a more traditional watercolor painting.

Cougar Peak #199

4.75" x 6.75" Digital

Finally we were able to get a bit of rain, and this morning there was a nice bit of fog and mist rolling up around the base of the mountain. This image again was painted on Photoshop, which is a blast to paint with.....because you can paint really quickly not having to worry about the paint drying, and you can go back and make major changes to a painting without having to go back and redo entire sections, and it allows you to experiment a bit more. Though it will never replace traditional mediums, which have their own benefits and downfalls, digital is definitely a medium that can stand on it's own, having both pros and cons as well.

Cougar Peak #198

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

Another day of smoke and haze greeted me this morning. For this image I started blocking out my main shapes in acrylic, once again trying to keep the values light and the detail to a minimum, so as to capture a bit of that haze and atmosphere. I then came in an added barn and tree which are both a little bit darker in value.

Cougar Peak #197

4.75" x 6.75" Digital

This evening there was a lot of smoke again that had rolled in, so everything was sort of a hazy yellow. For this image I decided to do another painting in Photoshop. I worked up a big soft flat brush, and started laying in my shapes and values, trying to keep things subtle and softer on the mountain and then darken and sharpen up my shapes and textures just a bit as things came closer towards the foreground.

Cougar Peak #196

4.75" x 6.75" Oil on Paper

Again as with yesterday I decided to paint with oils. Today the mountain is a bit hazy from the smoke of surrounding forest fires, which lighten the values on the mountain quite a bit. I started out doing a quick sketch with my oils and then started blocking out bigger areas. I tried to keep my touch light and brush loaded so as to build up a bit of paint in ares.

Cougar Peak #195

4.75" x 6.75" Oil on Paper

Nothing like 100+ degree weather for the last week to get you in the mood for painting, and to think that we had snow fresh snow on the mountain on June 25th! Since it was so hot I decided to break out my oils and try something a bit different. For this image I decided to forgo the brushes all together and just work with a palette knife...which I found to be extremely fun and most invigorating, and will probably try again further on in the project.

Cougar Peak #194

4.75" x 6.75" Digital

For today's image I decided to jump back onto Photoshop, it really allows you to play with a lot of colors and textures really quickly and do a lot of quick experimenting. To start out with I scanned in some candy wrappers and then started painting and sampling right on the top of them, trying to capture that early morning light and still bring in bits and colors from the wrappers.

Cougar Peak #193

4.75" x 6.75" Pastel on Paper

For todays image I ended up doing the whole image completely in pastel. Today again was one of those blistering hot days, and the weather has not really changed in the last couple of weeks, so I thought I would try mixing it up again with a different medium. Approaching it similar to my other paintings I started out with my big shapes and then got tighter and slower working in my hightlights and details.

Cougar Peak #192

4.75" x 6.75" Digital

I had fun working on Photoshop last night, so I decided to jump on it again this morning. The sky was just slightly hazy this morning, so it helped to push back the mountain a bit, and I wanted to try and capture that. Also I liked having the round bails still in the field and the early morning sun laying across them.

Cougar Peak #191

4.75" x 6.75" Digital

For today's painting I tried to capture more of that late evening light when the setting sun bathes the mountain in shades of orange and all of the shadows turn to hues of deep violet. I decided to jump back onto the computer for this one, using Photoshop I did a quick sketch and then started working on my main masses. Finally I came back in and laid in all of the details and the tree, barn, and hay bales.

Cougar Peak #190

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

Another beautiful evening, as the sun settles down for a night of rest, and it casts it's last rays upon the mountainside. Also we have more round bails filling up the field, creating a nice little addition to painting again.

Cougar Peak #189

4.75" x 6.75" Digital

Another day of blazing heat to great the mountain. Everyone got up at 5:30 this morning to start picking bales before the sun blasted us away. I could not help but just stare at the mountain while the sun rose up and bathed the canyon and the peak in that warm fresh early morning light.

Cougar Peak #188

4.75" x 6.75" Gouache on Paper

For today's image I switched over to gouache again. I like switching around and tying out different paint mediums, also it helps to keep the project fresh, and interesting, especially on some of these really hot summer days where nothing is really happening...except me sweating.

Cougar Peak #187

4.75" x 6.75" Pastel on Paper

The last few days have been real scorchers with temperatures peaking at around 107 degrees. I'm surprised that the mountain has not melted into a giant puddle....ahhh, if only it was made of chocolate ice cream. For this image I started out with pastel, and then found myself not wanting to put it down, so I completed the whole thing just using my pastels....plus I'm sure my paints would not have enjoyed the heat, they would have probably melted as well, or most likely dried up.

Cougar Peak #186

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

For this image I started right out on the dark mass of the canyon and then sort of worked out from there. After I had all of my dark masses completed, I then came in and built up my lighter values. Finally I came in and added highlights, and my darkest darks, also I added the tree and the barn....and walaaaaaaaaaaa!

Cougar Peak #185

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Chipboard

On this image I tried again to capture a bit of that early morning light. I was also able to incorporate some of the round hay bails that were bailed yesterday... adding a nice little addition to the composition, helping to give a bit more scale, lay down the field a bit more, and push the mountain back a bit.

Cougar Peak #184

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

Again with this image I tried to capture a bit of that early morning light hitting the mountain. I did a quick sketch with my acrylics just laying out my main angles and shapes and then quickly came in with a large brush blocking everything in. After that stage was completed I worked in the last details and highlights with a smaller brush.

Cougar Peak #183

4.75" x 6.75" Gouache/Pastel on Paper

HALF WAY THERE!!!!!....Wow, what a journey so far, there have been some tough days when I have not wanted to paint, but glad that I did, and there have been days when I could have painted the mountain all day long. Each day the mountain changes in some way that inspires me to go on and on and on.....whether it is a change in the lighting, weather, or the grass greening up and the mountain coming back to life, each day has been different and unique in some way.

For this image I wanted to celebrate the half way mark, so I decided to really pop the colors on this image and give it sort of a festive feel. I started out painting the image in gouache, then when I had something I liked, I came back in over the top of it with pastels, using bright yellows, reds, organges, etc....

Now on to the second half of this journey...thanks to all of you who have tagged along so far. Lets see what the second half brings!

Cougar Peak #182

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

Off to a new month, what will July have in store for Cougar Peak?...I suppose only time will tell. For this image I started out doing a sketch in pastels with some bright greens and yellows. After this I came in over the top with my acrylics trying to capture a bit of that midday sun.