Cougar Peak #228

4.75" x 6.75" Oil on Paper

Well, the smoke has finally decided to move in. We have been fortunate so far this summer not to have a lot of smoke, but the winds have changed today and have started to blow one of the nearby fires our way. I kept my oils dry and chunky for this one, spreading on paint vigorously as I attacked my paper, trying to keep things blended and hazy.

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 #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 #131

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

The snow on the mountain is slowly being eroded away and there only only little fingers just barely hanging on. The palette is changing and the tans from the rocks at the top of the peak are starting to show more and more. There is still a bit of smoke in the air from all of the fires, and it creates a nice hazy effect in the valley.

Cougar Peak #129

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

This morning there was a heavy layer of fog and smoke that had settled on the ground. Above was blue sky and the morning sun was in the process of burning it's way through the different layers of atmosphere. For this image I just did an initial sketch in blue pencil, and then came back over the top with a pad soaked with diluted paint to create some subtle values. After that I came back in with a bit of paint on the brush and added a dash of spice here and there.

Cougar Peak #121

4.75" x 6.75" Acrylic on Paper

This morning there was a lot of smoke covering the mountain, so much that the mountain lost all definition and became this monochromatic blue haze. For this one I started out rubbing on light washes of paint, and then came back in with my brush to define things more in the areas that needed it.