This is the photo I used to do the painting. It was taken with slide film from the day's before I had joined the digital world. The location is looking across Sprague Lake at Hallett Peak in Rocky Mountain Natl. Park.
View From Sprague Lake -- 16x20 Oil
The beginning sketch with only the biggest shapes indicated.
The darkest darks always come first. I use the white of the canvas as the lightest light. Notice the temperature change from warm on the
bottom to cooler towards the top
Now that the darkest darks and lightest lights are established, I start blocking in the middle ground next to the darkest mass in order to get an accurate comparison. The darkest darks are the easiet thing to get correct so they go on first. Everything is compared to what came before.
Working towards the distance as to keep comparing to what came before.
At this point I can now paint the sky to harmonize with the mountain and the water to everything above it.
Blockin of the water paying attention to what is reflecting into it. As you can see, I did not paint the water as it appears in the photo. In the photo the water is nothing but glare and the sky is over exposed. In reflections, darks appear lighter and lights appear darker.
At this point all canvas is covered and from this point on, comes the refinement of the shapes. Each shape is broken down into it's set of values. But nothing is ever darker or lighter than the first darkest dark and lightest light that was first established.
Adding light to the trees and thinking about what gets light and what does not.
Breaking up the bottom of the trees with light shining through and adding the bridge and tree trunks. Also thinking about how far to the right do I want the light to reach. I want the majority of the light to be coming from behind the trees on the left and to defuse as it moves to the right.
Added more light to the trees and more refinement to the water. Keeping the reflections understated as not to attract too much attention because this painting is not about reflections.
The finished painting. More negative painting of tree edges against the mountain. More light on middle ground trees. Added some floating clouds in front of mountain and more blue ripple on the water. In the finished painting you can still see the first lightest light and darkest dark that was established at the very beginning of the painting. They remain in their proper order.
