"High Sierra Lake" - Oil - 14" x 18" - SOLD
The chilly air kept this lake near freezing and snow patches intact at this lake above Bishop, California. I used the complicated network of diagonals to move the viewer's eye through the piece and enjoyed the contrasts and brilliant sky.” SFG
DEMONSTRATION:
Here's my start, a toned canvas and lines to establish the shapes and angles. I can tell at this stage if the viewer's eye will move through the composition as I planned and whether the masses will balance.
The darks go in first, the shadows and the dark part of the water. I decided, at this point to lay in the surface of the water, making sure it would lay flat.
Then, I moved to the areas in light, preserving the shapes drawn earlier. Notice how the angle and placement of the cloud will contribute to the "eye control".
Going to the lighter areas last, I put in the sky and its reflected shapes in the water. When you compare this shot to the final work, you'll see that I later decided that the sky was too light, and gave it more color.
Since the snow was to be the lightest area, I saved it for last and brushed some over the foreground boulders. Before calling the work complete, I cooled and varied the temperature of the lighted areas of the mountain and added detail.
Over halfway through painting this one, I noticed that I had used the same #8 brush, except for the line drawing at first. As a self-assigned exercise, I finished the painting with it. It's a good trick because it forced me to experiment with ways to vary brushstrokes and I found some that I wouldn't have used otherwise.
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