At Elk Pond
This is a pastel and gouache sketch in a 12 X 12 inch Derwent Black Paper sketchbook.
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.
View Through the Balconies
This is a pastel and gouache sketch on black paper in a 9 X 12 inch Derwent sketchbook.
Rain Comes Across the Meadow
It has been really rainy here in Telluride this year so I have had a lot of opportunity to observe how the rains comes in across the mountains and hills. It is just beautiful and I wanted to convey this in a sketch.
This is a small 5 X 8 inch gouache sketch in a black Moleskine sketchbook.
Another Meadow
This is another sketch which, like yesterday’s, is mostly about learning to paint meadows. However, this one is painted from a photo because by the time I got up to where this meadow is on the Telluride ski slopes it was raining pretty hard. Overall, I like the composition and the grass in the foreground, although I wish I had left more of the black paper showing. I think with some work on the mid-ground area that I could get a sketch I would be pleased with.
I am pretty sure this is the meadow I want to paint for my final large painting before leaving Colorado. The weather report tells us that it will dry out on Tuesday or Wednesday so I am hoping to climb back up and spend the day there.
This is a a gouache and pastel sketch on a 5 X 8 inch Moleskine black paper sketchbook.
Aspen Meadow
Right now in early August there are huge meadows filled with flowers and rimmed by aspen trees, mountains and sky in the San Juan Mountains. Before I leave Colorado next Friday, I plan to do a large painting of one of these meadows. I am getting ready by sketching small meadows in a 5 X 8 inch sketchbook with gouache and pastel. This meadow has huge daisies and I need to work on getting them to seem in proportions with the other flowers.
Like Matisse’s Windows
This is a gouache and pastel sketch on black paper in a 12 X 12 inch Derwent black sketchbook.
