Sorich Ridge

6" x 8"
Mt.Tam from Sorich Ridge #39

 I did 2 small paintings today and clocked them both in at under an hour (not including the sketch and the notan) and I used a big #6 brush to keep me loose.  I'm only going to show you one of them, as I ran across a lot of "friction" from the first painting and it didn't turn out so good ( I know this is incorrect grammar, it just feels like a good time to use an adjective).  Mt. Tam has so many distinct profiles.  This view is from the North looking South - the Mountain is so long from this vantage point.  I challenged myself to some close-up leafless bushes and dead grass and am pretty happy with my attempt to make it interesting.  My teacher, Tim Horn, quoted another painter, who I can't remember, who said, "don't even bother to include anything in your compostion less than 50' away from where you are set up".  This works for me.  It's much easier to set things up when you have some distance between you and what your painting.

For those of you who are attentive to detail, you will notice that Sorich Ridge is covered in Eucalyptus.  You will also notice, that I didn't include any in my painting.  The problem is that you are sitting under them and can't get a view of one from far away.  And I must say, there is nothing pretty about sitting under a Eucalyptus - they are messy and dirty and Eucalyptus stuff is always falling on you.   Maybe I'll go back tomorrow and put one in the foreground, maybe...

Mt. Tam really is blue.