Mitchell is a wrap...

I worked furiously over the weekend and progressed much more quickly than I anticipated.  This was a very enjoyable painting.  The photo was interesting to me...I liked the pose, the setting...the memory!

Not sure what is next...hopefully I'll have something up and going in a few days.  Thanks again for dropping by.  Mark

Something different...a Human being

You haven't seen a portrait or any thing close to one so far on this blog.  Well, here you go...my son Mitchell.  I'm in the early stages of this work.  Our family was in Ecuador last summer, and one day we were hiking in the Cajas National Park, just 20 minutes northwest of Cuenca.  It was a cold windy day and we were at about 13,000 feet elevation.  I snapped this picture of Mitch as he was contemplating the beauty of this place.  I'll hopefully have this completed in about a week.  Thanks for checking in....Mark

Banner Peak complete

This is my 3rd painting of this mountain and lake.  Probably my last for awhile.  1000 Island Lake and Ritter and Banner Peaks are my favorite spot in the Sierra's.  So, I had one more photo from my last hike there and I just had to commit it to paint.  Here you go...  I'm now working on a protrait...I'll post my progress in a few days...thanks for stopping by!  m

Banner Peak...again

My favorite high sierra lake is 1000 Island Lake.  Located on the eastern side of the sierra's at the base of Banner Peak, and Mt. Ritter to its south.  This is my 3rd landscape painting of this area.  This painting is different from my previous two in that the photo I took was taken one afternoon when clouds were gathering and rain was going to fall.  Even though what you see in this early stage of the painting is pretty monochromatic, there is going to be more color as I get to the center of the scene where there is green and gold grasses, and some blue sky reflection at the bottom.  This painting is progressing slowly- lots of tiny brush strokes, so maybe a week from now you'll see an almost complete painting - for sure more color.  Thanks for checking in...Mark

Made some progress today, thought I'd post some color.

The Fox & Hounds

If you take the walk across England up near the border with Scotland, the trail walks right past this Tavern.  You'll be glad you stopped here.  The sign on the front of the tavern is a real piece of art.  It was fun to try and recreate this great art in my painting.

I've just started a painting of my favorite peak and lake in the Sierra's.  1000 Island Lake with Mt Ritter in the background.  This painting will be more mountain than lake.  This will be my 3rd painting with the lake and mountain.  Every year or so I need to do a mountain / lake landscape...I happen to have some quality photos from hikes up there so here we go again.... Mark 

B&B Tavern

Well, revisiting subject material from England.  A few years back on our walk across England we stayed at this quintessential rural B&B / Tavern.  Nothing like the convenience of relaxing and dining, then walking upstairs to retire for the day.  This place was as cool on the inside as it appears from the outside.

Should be done with this painting next week.  Not sure what's up next...any suggestions?  Mark

Gondola Parking Only

Came across this photo in our travel archives, and decided this might be interesting to paint in miniature.  So this painting is 61/2 inches high and 11 inches wide.  This was fun and I think I'll be doing more miniatures.