Meadow on the Village Bypass Trail

Mountain Bikers love the Village Bypass Trail and I had a great time marveling at their speed and courage as I stood above the trail and sketched this morning. I considered including a few but they flew by so fast that I couldn’t begin to capture their forms. However, I could get the shapes of the meadow and the undulating mountains that rise up above the tree line. 

I let a lot of the black paper show and used less blended paint strokes than in many of my recent sketches. I think these choices help suggest the ruggedness of the San Juan Mountains.

This is a pastel and gouache sketch in a 12 X 12 inch Derwent Black Paper sketchbook.