Spring at Rattlesnake Lake 24x18 oil

This was the first gorgeous Sunday in a while. After church, I packed my paints and my dog to go for a hike and plein air paint. Thousands of other people had the same idea (hiking-not painting), though! This is one of few hikes that doesn't still have snow at the top. I did the hike and took photos for the painting instead. I don't mind painting in front of people, but I know how tranquil it is there on a weekday. And yes, here are my token "aspens". Now I just need to paint a heron and I'll have all the cliche set of paintings down.

5 members like this

View Full Size

Tags:

Add a Comment

You need to be a member of The Complete Artist to add comments!

Join The Complete Artist

Comment by Britt Greenland on April 18, 2014 at 4:35: Ann, thanks for your comments. Looking at the reference photo, you are spot on about the values of those peaks! They should be lighter than the evergreens in from of them. (which should be a bit darker)

Comment by Ann Turner on April 17, 2014 at 13:35: Nice painting Britt, I like the little touches of orange peaking out all over the painting, it adds a nice zing. Your tree spacing looks good to me and I like the pattern you have with the shadows on the ground. I would like to see the peaks on the right to be a lighter value. The dark grey one is similar to the darkest area in the painting and the blue one is the same value as the sky. Making the value lighter will push them back and bring the trees forward.

Comment by Britt Greenland on April 17, 2014 at 7:32: Thank you for your comments. Critiques welcome as always, as well. I always find the shadows very difficult...to keep or not to keep the texture of the grass? Should the shadows be closer in value to each other. Also, I did notice my very equally space tree tops just now DARN them. Diane, I complain a lot about the weather (cloudy and dark for weeks at a time!) here near Seattle, but it is a very beautiful place 6 months of the year, and I'm fortunate to be within a couple hours of thousands of amazing hikes, rock climbs, and mountain climbs as well as within 3 hours of the Ocean. Unfortunately, I think I need sunlight more than I need air sometimes.

Comment by Michael J. Severin on April 17, 2014 at 1:46: You did a great job on this painting, Britt. A little gem.

Comment by Aurelia Sieberhagen on April 16, 2014 at 17:06: Lovely painting. You live in a beautiful place. Lucky for you to not mind painting in front of people. It makes me very nervous when people start to peek over my shoulder.