Rock, Water, Fish

I added a few subtle details: Enhanced the edge of the hat, added more definition to the mouth, a slightly darker shadow to the nose, more defined dark line to the middle of the shirt, more definition to the jawline....and a few other small details.

I'm SO excited about how the piece turned out. I only wish the digital version was closer to the original image. There are so many tiny details lost in the digital image. I've for sure got the itch to do more larger pieces. This was so fun! I can't wait to see what it will look like framed!

Rock, Water, Fish, 30x44

Almost finished!

The next post I have will be the finished piece...I just need to do some last little tweaks and then scan the beast to get a proper digital image. OH i'm soooooooooooooooooo excited to share it with you! But since that will happen a little later today, here are two images of some progress I made earlier today.

I've begun working on the water. The next shows a little more progress on the water

Happy Thursday everyone!!!!

More Progress

I was able to spend the day working on my big piece, which was great since I didn't do any painting this past weekend. I had the chance to get away from it all. My dear dear friend and I rented a forest service cabin near Phillipsburg, MT for the weekend with the intent on going Snowshoeing. There really wasn't that much snow so we used our yaktracks to get around on the ice. I got some great reference photos and CAN'T wait to paint some of them. But first, this piece!

And here is one with progress on the rock with lichen

Progress

Here is a bit of Progress I made on the giant painting today.

And....a little more! :)

Fat Tire Bikes and the Start of a New Painting!

I love Saturdays! They always mean adventure....or productivity. Sometimes, both, which was the case today!

Whitefish Legacy Partners, a non profit in Whitefish, joined forces with many local businesses to create the Winter Trails Day...a free family fun day to try out snowshoes, cross country skis, or fat tire bikes. They had demos, mini lessons, fire to keep warm, and hot cocoa! I went with a girlfriend to test out some skis and bikes (I already own a couple pairs of snowshoes).

It was SO much fun! I'm really considering getting a pair of skis...partly to make traveling in Glacier quicker. All the places I want to go are quiet a ways a away and snowshoeing does take some time...So I figure if I get some skis, I can get to my destination quicker and then hop on the snowshoes to hike up to the lakes or explore around off the main road (The Going to the Sun road is closed 11 miles in and can only be traveled by foot or ski). What I REALLY want, though, is a Fat Tire Bike. Those things can go anywhere, OMG they are so cool! It was like mountain biking in the snow! Super awesome. I probably wouldn't take it to trails and such very much, if I had one. But I would most definitely use it as my mode of transportation. It'd be nice to bike year round, instead of driving in the winter!

After I got home from my fun adventure, I began to put paint to paper on my newest piece. I have several others in process or drawn and waiting to be started, but I just couldn't contain my desire to start this piece. It will be the largest watercolor I've ever done. It's almost as large as my kitchen table...which is what I'm painting it on!!! My watercolor pallet & water bowl are sitting on my chair so I'm standing/bending while I paint. This is going to be a very physical experience painting this thing.

I transfered my drawing a couple of days ago and have been attempting to make the piece lay flat (as it came off a roll of paper). When finished, the piece will be 30x44. SO exciting. It's of a fisherman holding the fish he just caught. The image is my uncle. I took the reference photo on a backpacking trip in the Beartooth Mountains several years ago. This was at Phantom Lake. While I LOVE the mountains of Glacier and all the adventures you can have, my heart will always belong to the Beartooth Mountains. I have so many fond memories there. There are so many wonderful areas you can explore!

Ahhhh, I'm getting off topic! Back to the painting. So I made some quick progress. Laid in the first washes for the shirt/vest, hat & water. Then I started doing some detail. I was gonna call it quits for the evening (and took the photos to show you) but decided to go paint a little bit longer. So, I should have more photos to post tomorrow or Monday as I KNOW I'm gonna be working on this badboy any chance I get!

You can see how it is practically as large as my kitchen table. This last photo shows the extra details I started putting in