On to Paisley & the Chewaukan River

(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)

The day after Christmas; Boxing Day in England; and overcast, as it had been all night, and I headed out as I thought I needed to be back in civilization by the 30^th; wrongly as it turned out, and most unfortunate as I could have squeezed out a few more days in the wild to include the New Year.  Be that as it may I left the CCC Hut Campground, home for the past few days and part of the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, and slowly crossed Warner Valley on a county road, between the dry lakes, stopping to take photographs now and then, and to study the map and identify distant features, eventually meeting the Hogback Road at a T-junction.

Floor of the Warner Valley

(Looking South with Hart Mountain on the left)

Hart Mountain from the West across the Warner Valley

(the CCC Hut Campground is at the base of the Mountain

below the dark diagonal slash at the center of the face of the mountainside)

Here one may turn south for Plush or north for Hwy 395, twenty miles away.  I turned for Hwy 395, and proceeded up between the Coyote Hills, to the south and on my left, and the Rabbit Hills north and on my right, seeing them close to, after having studied them from afar all week.  Seen from this road there are rocky buttes that rear up from the northern aspect of the Coyote Hills that look like they should be called the Coyote’s Teeth; whether they are or not, I do not know, but they should be.  A couple of miles before the junction with Hwy 395, there is a good view of Juniper Mountain and the northern extension of the Abert Rim; this latter is a fault escarpment, with its rim facing west and the plateau sloping east towards the now distant Coyote & Rabbit Hills, and the Warner Valley beyond.

The Coyote Hills from the Hogback Road

(a couple of the buttes I have called the Coyote's Teeth can be seen)

The Rabbit Hills

(Hart Mountain is beyond and across the Warner Valley from this view)

Juniper Mountain and the Northern Extension of the Abert Rim

(from the Hogback Road a couple miles before the Hwy 395 Junction)

From here I drove north for four miles to check out a rest area for future reference.  It had water pumps there, similar to the one at the CCC Hut Campground, but whether they were turned off for the Winter or just frozen, I do not know.  I retraced my path past the Hogback Road and dropped down towards Lake Abert, but before arriving I turned right onto another county road that would eventually take me to Paisley on Hwy 31.  If the road became to iffy, I could always come back to Hwy 395, but as a county road, I thought it would be OK; I wouldn’t take chances after my experience of the Mudfest of several weeks before; it was not as good a road as the Hogback Road, but was no real problem, partly because it was frozen for the first two-thirds of the drive, when I stopped to have lunch at a view north past the east edge of Wildcat Mountain, and Diablo Peak just poking its head up beyond, and with St. Patricks and Sheepshead Mountains a bit to their right.   It was turning out to be a photo-recon day; these days are too short to drive very far, stopping to take photos, and expect to get a painting in as well.

Lake Abert & the Abert Rim

(the latter on the left)

Abert Lake Homestead with the Abert Rim beyond

Wildcat Mountain

(with Diablo Peak just poking up beyond

and with St. Patrick's and Sheepshead Mountains a bit to their right;

here I had lunch)

Paisley, named after the town in Scotland, looks to be a pleasant village (hot in Summer, I expect), about the size of Lake Nebagamon, in northern Wisconsin, where I spent my first three years of grade school.  I topped up with petrol, and decided to check out the Chewaukan River, which flows through town.  I meandered up the river valley (county road 33), taking photos, and eventually decided to turn around about 10 miles up, the now icy and snowy road.  A few hundred yards back down the road I decided to spend the night at the Jones Crossing Campground, which although officially closed, was only closed as far as amenities were concerned.  Many tracks in the 3” of snow covering the ground … deer, coyotes, and what may have been cougar tracks; these latter were along the road where I had turned around.  I kept my bear spray canister close to hand while strolling around and preparing supper.  Studying the map I see that I’m now about 30, maybe 40, miles from the site of the now infamous Mudfest, but over some desperate and snowy roads, over the escarpment and mountains.

On the Chewaukan River #1

On the Chewaukan River #2

Supplies

(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)

Stars were bright all night with just the occasional cloud passing by; I awaken several times during an average night; always have.  And the morning came bright and fair, and the best day since I left for the High Desert more than a month ago.  Christmas being two days off and my supplies needing a top up, I headed for Lakeview, 60 miles off.  I would have liked to have painted on a day like this, but I didn’t want to go to town on Christmas Eve, as I have no idea what the business hours might be.  I discovered that the water pump at the campground actually was working, and so I filled my containers; later I also discovered that it depended on the temperature whether water actually came out or not, but it was interesting to know, that it didn’t seem to be closed off during the Winter. 

I drove through Plush, 15 miles from the CCC Campground, and which has only a small general store, stopped to take some photos of an old green barn, which I intend to paint at some point.

Green Barn in Plush

I continued on up out of the Warner Valley, via the Plush Cutoff Road, and with Drake Peak, to the southwest as a landmark, I enjoyed the drive along the rolling terrain of the plateau.  A few miles along I noticed a large herd of cattle, about two hundred, far off to the west that had not been there two weeks earlier; they looked odd, so I pulled over and glassed them with my binoculars, and lo and behold they turned into ANTELOPE!  Here I have been in the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge for almost two weeks, and not one sighting of an antelope, and here they are across the valley!  Sadly, they were two far for decent photographs.  I stopped again just before joining Hwy 140 to take some more photos of Drake Peak (altitude 8407’); this is part of the Warner Mountains. 

Drake Peak

I liked the look of Lakeview, (population 2294; 2010 census); it’s an oasis of trees and houses in the High Desert.  First I had lunch at the Burger Queen; I felt like having a cheeseburger at a local one-off café, for a change.  Next I visited my bank and as I was strolling through the doors, I noticed across the street a tiny home-like building with a sign saying, “Town Hall.”  I enquired of the teller, if that was actually the Town Hall across the street, and upon receiving a yes, I paused for a few seconds, searching for words, and said, “How sweet!”  Well … it was; what else need be said?  Chuckling to myself and exiting to the street, I looked at the sweet Town Hall again, and proceeded to the Safeway, the only food store in town that I was aware of.  Then after topping up my stores, I drove around the town a bit; I was surprised at the variety of and number of shops there were; perhaps I shouldn’t have been as it is a long ways to anywhere else.  I tanked up on petrol, gave my Mom a call, wishing her a Merry Christmas, and headed back to the wilds.  I hoped to find a road into the mountains that wasn’t too snowy, and find a clearing among the pines to spend Christmas, but even though I found one that might have been OK, and after driving a short way along it, I decided not to risk it … snow, and the memory of my recent mudfest of a few weeks ago, militated for caution. 

In the end I returned to the CCC Hut Campground, sighting no antelope on the way, but a herd of deer with one stag, as I dropped down into Plush, and another herd as I entered the campground, also with one buck.  I Mountain Bluebird was gracing the fence as I pulled into my campsite; they are a beautiful blue, these birds … a bit of sky come to Earth.  I took a few photos of the last sun on the Hart Mountain Ridge (both of these below are from my campsite).  

Last Light on Hart Mountain #1

(& Poker Jim Ridge)

Last Light on Hart Mountain #2

There were some cloud layers to the southwest as the sun set, and as I prepared supper, I thought I glimpsed Venus low above the horizon.  This was confirmed later, when I brought up my Astronomy App on my tablet … so, Venus will now be an Evening Star for the next few months.  My tent neighbors of the night before had gone up the mountain this morning, so I again had the camp to myself.  I watched the thin crescent Moon until it set at 18:43, read a bit and turned in for the night, hoping the morrow would be as nice as this day had been.

Misty High Desert Showers

(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)

C1590

"Misty High Desert Showers"

(Warner Valley, Oregon High Desert)

Oil Sketch on Centurian Oil Primed Linen Panel

4" x 6"

Click here to make this your Own

(Take further Note: the images and incidents herein occurred in December 2014.)

Although there were intermittent stars during the night, by 06:15, when I arose, it was overcast and a light rain.  Coyotes yipped and yowled to the northwest, just as they did as I prepared supper the previous evening … towards the Rabbit Hill, no less; the Coyote Hills are the massif to the south from the Rabbits.  As I ate breakfast I was taken by the peach coloured strip of sky low along the horizon to the left of Poker Jim Ridge, and glowing through the soft desert rain … perhaps a promise of clearing; it was essentially the same view as painted two days before (seen here), but a different kind of rain.  Breakfast finished I did a rapid Oil Sketch using a big brush to quickly jot down the impression, as witnessed by the brushstrokes; it’s always interesting to see how much one can do with a large brush in good condition.  I used about a #6 bristle bright, for the whole thing, save for my monogram; one learns to judiciously use the corners for the smaller details.  I am learning that one goes through Oil brushes at a much more rapid pace by far than with Watercolour brushes; brights* soon become ragged filberts*; Watercolour brushes, especially the larger ones, can last for decades, well taken care of.   

After I had completed that sketch I had lunch, hoping that the day would improve and cast some interesting light over the landscape, so that I could perk up the sketch of the CCC hut published in the last post, but it was not to be; the rain did stop, but the overcast remained, so I continued on and completed that sketch, and dabbing in the deer as I mentioned in the last post.  Thus it remains more or less a reference study. 

Even though I am still in (just) the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, I have yet to see any antelope; coyotes, some birdlife and deer, but no antelope.  I wonder what is the best time of the year for their sighting.  A Great Horned Owl hooted off towards the mountain to the east, while I prepared supper, replacing the coyote choir of last night and the morning’s serenade.  I cooked at my campsite tonight as it was warm and calm, and stars appeared through various sucker holes to the southwest … over the Coyote Hills across the Warner Valley.  I have a tent neighbor several sites away, and almost a caravan neighbor in another, but after supper, the latter, left and headed up the mountain.  They could have a problem maneuvering the caravan in the snow at the Hot Springs campground, if that’s where they were headed, but perhaps they were instead passing through the antelope refuge, and heading for Steens Mountain.  Since Christmas is only two days away, tomorrow I shall go into Lakeview, the ‘tallest town in Oregon,’ to top up my supplies and my gas tank … oh, and my water supply as well! 

No imprimatura was used, just the white of the Oil Priming, and the Pigments used were, Rublev Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, and Winsor & Newton Cobalt Blue, Venetian Red & Cremnitz White.

* A bright is a short flat squarish brush, and a filbert is a flat brush with rounded corners, so the tip is rather oval in shape.

Hart Mountain from the CCC Hut

(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)

"Hart Mountain ‘CCC’ Hut"

(Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, Oregon High Desert)

Oil Sketch on Panelli Tellati Canvas Panel

with additional Coat of Rublev Lead Ground

8" x 6"

Click here to make this your Own

(Take further Note: the images and incidents herein occurred in December 2014.)

I’ve had a very busier than normal ten days, so this posting is well overdue, so to carry on from the last post … the first night down here at the Hart Mountain CCC Campground, in the Warner Valley, was a very rough and windy.  The gusts I sheltered from while cooking last night’s supper, turned into a very vicious wind by the time I turned in.  I had chosen a campsite that faced the mountain, but after only a few minutes in my sleeping bags, I realized that I had parked broadside to the wind and the SUV was lurching back and forth like a small boat in wild seas, so I climbed over the seat into the driving position, and moved to the next campsite and faced northeast away from the wind, which now blew down the length of the vehicle from back to front … much better, but even so there were moments when I feared the gale might pick up the truck and waft it into the side of the mountain. 

Came the morning and the winds scaled down immensely, but it remained overcast on this shortest day of the year; Christmas looms near.  The winds, having blown from the south/southwest all night, were warmer and the patches of snow on the mountain were visibly reduced.  I quickly finished up yesterday’s Oil Sketch of ‘December Rain Shower,’ and after a brief lunch decided to try to get down the feel of Hart Mountain from here.  Since the mountain ridge is 20 or so miles long I chose a section of it rising behind the CCC hut (the Civilian Conservation Corps that gave jobs to many during the 1930s’ depression … probably could have done with some of that during the last 7 years, rebuilding bridges and other infrastructure in this country).  The overcast and intermittent rain gave a bland light on the scene, but the mountain top with cloud swirling about was interesting, and the resident herd of deer made an appearance at the right time so I dabbed in a few deer blobs near the hut; the patch of gold in the notch below the snowline was a grove of Aspens, and they had lost their leaves, but I dashed in their Autumn Gold colour as a reminder; an informational sketch.  It is about a three and a half thousand foot rise to the tops from here; maybe a little more; reminds me of Scotland a bit since the rise in altitude is similar, although it must be pointed out that we are already at an altitude on this valley floor that is higher than the top of Ben Nevis (the highest mountain in Britain, to inform the Yanks).  I completed the sketch the next day … these days are short.

What a difference a day makes; high winds while cooking last night and tonight … nary a breeze.  It did rain while I cooked, but thank goodness for the sheltered cooking area, and then the stars came out while I ate my chicken and pesto pasta, with mushrooms, corn and olives;  mmm, mmm good!  Before turning in for a quiet & calm night, I spent half an hour or so tracing some of the constellations that I’m less familiar with: Pisces Austrinus; Cetus; Equuleus; & Aquarius.  All of these I have always more or less known they were there, but in the winter skies other asterisms have usually caught my attention; they are also relatively dim. 

Imprimatura: Venetian Red.

The Pigments used were:  Rublev Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Italian Burnt Sienna, with Winsor & Newton Cobalt Blue, Venetian Red & Cremnitz White, and a touch of Cadmium Yellow.

December Rain Showers in the Warner Valley

(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)

C1588

"December Rain Shower"

(Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, Oregon High Desert)

Oil Sketch on Winsor & Newton Canvas Panel

5" x 7"

Click here to make this your Own

(Take further Note: the images and incidents herein occurred in December 2014.)

After the delightful though brief glimpse of the stars through the sucker holes in last night’s cloud, the rest of the night was overcast and a quarter inch of snow had accumulated on the truck.  I was at work finishing up yesterday’s painting by 09:00, refining the huddle of buildings and vegetation that make up the headquarters of the National Antelope Refuge, here at Hart Mountain.  And the rain came sweeping in … and the wind … at times obscuring the HQ, but most of the time obliterating the distant Beattys Butte, and even the closer mass of upland on the right where lies Lookout Point. 

Upon finishing the sketch I drove the mile to the HQ and entered the ‘Open 24/7 Visitors Center,’ and corrected my entry in the log about how many days I had been in the Hot Springs CG.  I used the indoor head and spent some time musing about the weather outside through the windows, working out my best course of action.  The rain was obscuring the view of Hart Mountain, which I had considered sketching; the rain might freeze on the descent back down to the Warner Valley, up which I had ascended a week earlier; the rain might turn to heavy snow back at the Hot Springs CG, and keep me there longer; so the best course of action seemed to be descending the 1400’ back to the Warner Valley, and to camp at the CCC campground at the base of Hart Mountain, which was still just inside the Refuge. 

Thus I gingerly made the descent; my fears of rain freezing on the road proving unfounded, and the driving rain had now turned to individual squalls moving periodically across the landscape.  After exploring the as expected empty campground, I began another painting; this time of rain showers over the Warner Valley.  The view is north from the CG with the northern extremity of Hart Mountain being the cliffs on the extreme right of the sketch, and Poker Jim Ridge, being the lower high ground immediately to its left; the road up to the plateau behind, and down which I had come, lies between the two.  I’m not sure whether Poker Jim Ridge is considered part of Hart Mountain or not, but it forms part of the same escarpment that forms the eastern edge of the Warner Valley.  I wonder how often the lakes in this valley actually have water; I would like to see them when that might occur, filled with wildfowl, as in times of old (actually not so long ago, but the current extended drought, hereabouts, has aggravated the situation).  You might wonder where the drought is, with all this talk of snow and rain in these postings, but the accumulations have not been great, and if that which falls is rain instead of snow the accumulated snowpack up in the higher mountains is not as normal; and the accumulated snow pack up there is what sustains these regions, by its slow and measured melt, during the warmer months of the year.

With dark coming on I repaired to a roofed picnic area, with walls at one end and prepared supper.  Although windy, the main wall blocked a good part of it, and my body the restless gusts that crept around the barriers, so that supper was more easily managed than if I had been out in an open site.  I would finish the painting in the morning.

Imprimatura: Venetian Red.

The Pigments used were:  Rublev Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Italian Burnt Sienna, Lead White #2, with Winsor & Newton Cobalt Blue, Venetian Red & Cremnitz White.

The Distant Snow Shower

(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)

C1587

"The Distant Snow Shower"

(Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, Oregon High Desert)

Oil Sketch on Ampersand Gesso Panel

5" x 7"

Click here to make this your Own

(Take further Note: the images and incidents herein occurred in December 2014.)

All night the wind blew; not gale force, but hard enough.  It was not as cold overnight as I thought it would be, so my ice bucket was only partially frozen; still, it was better than if I’d left it in the cooler overnight.  My campsite is in a very slight dip, and so with the slightly warmer conditions, my wheels spun as I tried to leave to paint; if it had been colder I would have had no difficulty getting out.  So, I emptied my 15 gallons of spare fuel into the tank … what a job … took over an hour as I experimented with various methods of doing it best; nevertheless the job got done.  Each of my three containers still held a little petrol in the bottom, since I couldn’t get an angle for them to empty completely, so I poured from two into the third and drained that one as far as possible; I must get some sort of funnel to get every last drop in future.  With the petrol in the tank, and not weighting down the far back of the truck, and a little judicious spade-work, and 4-wheel drive, I got out without further difficulty.

By the time I got out of the Hot Springs valley, it was 11:30, so I ended up driving through the HQ about a mile or so on the road towards the Warner Valley, parked and had my lunch, and studied the scene before me.  Snow showers passed by occasionally in the distance, with a good one forming up as I set up for painting.  I worked on the sketch during the afternoon, while further snow squalls came and went, sometimes over me, and decided I would have to come back in the morning to rework the buildings and trees of the HQ complex.  I quite like the Beattys Butte massif dimly showing on the horizon, just to the left of the snow shower, and about 20, or so, miles away; it had been in sunlight not long before, but this gloomy apparition, as depicted, better caught the spirit of its impending disappearance beneath the obscuring swirl of the squall.  Just beyond the heights on the right is where I did yesterday’s painting, below Lookout Point.

With the morning’s slippery exit from my previous campsite in mind I took a site closer to the plowed exit road, and on level ground, for the night, and prepared my supper in a light snowfall … de-rigueur these days; diced ham and mashed potatoes with mushrooms, corn and broccoli – mmmmm good!  While I ate supper the cloud had cleared away leaving the whole sky brilliant with stars!  Five minutes later while stowing away my frying pan and stove, the cloud swept in again leaving sucker holes full of stars … fickle.

Imprimatura: Venetian Red.

The Pigments used were:  Rublev Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Italian Burnt Sienna, Lead White #2, with Winsor & Newton Cobalt Blue and Venetian Red.

Forty Miles of High Desert

(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)

C1586

"Forty Miles of High Desert"

(Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, Oregon High Desert)

Oil Sketch on Centurian Oil Primed Linen Panel

with additional Coat of Rublev Lead Ground

4" x 6"

Click here to make this your Own

(Take further Note: the images and incidents herein occurred in December 2014.)

I awoke at 05:43 hours and by the position of Jupiter peeking through the Aspen branches I ascertained that it must be close to morning.  I pulled my long-John shirt into the sleeping bag to warm up for awhile before I began to dress.  It takes close to an hour to wash up ‘me pits & bits’ (as they say in Blighty) with my solution of witch hazel and isopropyl alcohol, and gradually clothe myself in the myriad of layers necessary to be comfortable on frosty Winter’s mornings, all in a prone position, in the back of my SUV!  When I finally emerged from my cocoon, the sun was touching the top of Warner Peak across the Hot Springs Valley, and while breakfasting I was able to watch the Sun-line gradually sliding down the mountain slopes. 

So where to go today?  I drove out of the Hot Springs Valley, past the site of yesterday’s two paintings, proceeding towards the road junction at the Refuge HQ.  A couple of miles on my way I passed the Blue Sky Road upon my right, and noticed there were tire tracks in the snow; of course I followed them, as the road is of reasonable quality, but not plowed in the Winter.  I knew that 12½ miles down this road there was to be found a grove of Ponderosa Pines, which I hoped I would be able to make it to.  About a mile or so before the Pines I paused at the top of a hill down into the valley across which was the grove … would I find the hill too slippery to return up the hill?  I made a couple of tests before proceeding, especially in light of my recent mudfest (here).  There was a lot more to the grove than I expected, and I determined that in a drier time of the year I would return and explore and paint here, especially as there is another campground here (closed in Winter), but as I was worried about the imminent ascent on my return journey, and the Sun making the road possibly more slippery, I took a few swift photos and headed back.  I took the hill in 4-wheel drive, with no real difficulty as long as I did not pause on the incline; I breathed easier, nevertheless, upon attaining the crest.  On the way back I checked out a short side road leading to an Aspen grove, within which there is a private structure on a few acres of private land within the middle of the Refuge.  I think a painting from the road leading to this grove is on the cards, at some future date.  Later I discovered, that in spite of the vehicle tracks on the Blue Sky Road, this road was deemed closed in the Winter … perhaps the fact it was not plowed is the tip-off … oh well!

Today, however, I was struck by the view, from below Lookout Point, towards Beattys Butte, with Steens Mountain beyond.  Today there were more of the tops of Steens Mountain below the cloud level than in previous days.  The distances involved in such vistas continue to strike me, and again I sought to relate the 16 miles to Beattys Butte, and the 40 miles to Steens, with just a few strokes of the brush to depict the intervening sunlit and cloud shadowed spaces across the wide landscape between the foreground and the far mountains; always a daunting task.  A longer painting panel would have been nice, rather than the standard panel sizes I have, but for a longer panel there seem to be no stock frame sizes available … for once I envy the French, since their art suppliers seem to have a stock set of longer canvases and frames that fall into a marine category, which we in the English speaking world could well do with! 

Very windy that night as I placed the ice bucket of my cooler outside the truck to freeze overnight, before I turned in.  I think I will need to pour my cans of spare petrol into the tank in the morning, before heading out.

Imprimatura: Venetian Red.

The Pigments used were:  Rublev Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Italian Burnt Sienna, Lead White #2 & Flemish Lead White, with Winsor & Newton Cobalt & Cerulean Blues and Venetian Red.

Absorbing the Landscape

(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)

C1585

"On the Hot Springs Road"

(Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, Oregon High Desert)

Oil Sketch on Centurian Linen Panel

with additional Coat of Rublev Lead Ground

4" x 6"

SOLD

(Take further Note: the images and incidents herein occurred in December 2014.)

After completing the Oil Sketch in the last posting, it was lunchtime. While eating I studied the scene off to my left; somewhere down there was the Antelope Refuge Headquarters; probably behind the hill to the left and down on the flat.  Poker Jim Ridge arose a few miles distant; the road from the Warner Valley comes up between it and the main ridge of Hart Mountain.  Beyond Poker Jim Ridge the hills are lower and stretch away to the north, perhaps thirty miles or more, before losing themselves in the low cloud … not as far as Steens Mountain.  The road goes from the Hot Springs to the Refuge HQ.  For me part of painting or drawing is to impress upon my mind what I see, and to come to terms with the Landscape.  The High Desert and the Mountains of the West are still new to me … even after the years I’ve been in Oregon, and probably will be for a long time to come, but every painting and drawing that I do teaches me more and more about this land. 

And so in the afternoon, I worked on the above Oil Sketch with Poker Jim Ridge on the left and the plateau stretching away to the distant hills in the North … all of what you see is part of the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, save for the far distant hills beyond Poker Jim Ridge.  And I have yet to see an antelope!  I would, but not this day.  I love these kinds of days, where there is a mixture of cloud and sun, thus casting shadows intermittently across the landscape.  In a vast landscape such as this, these shadows help to break up the landscape, and add great interest to what could otherwise be a rather flat and two dimensional view, especially in the middle of the day; the cloud-shadows help to give a sense of distance.  Absolutely blue clear-sky days have their own charm, but I really find them best when I am within a forest and need the light to see to paint, or if I am doing something other than painting, and the temperature is not too hot, being a cool weather chap.  A case in point would a pristine clear day in April, many years ago in Toronto, and the blue sky seemed to go on forever and ever, and the temperature was in the sixties Fahrenheit; I will never forget that morning.  But I digress.

As I finished working for the day, a mini-blizzard blew in from the South, lasting 45 minutes, and reducing visibility to a hundred yards or so, after having a 40 mile view just minutes before!  T’was perfect timing, as I scribed my Monogram to the sketch.  A couple in a car passed me towards the Hot Springs as the mini-blizzard began, and were over by the Springs as I came down the hill towards my campsite.  They did not remain the night; maybe they were from the HQ.  The accumulation was about a half an inch, and abated as I began to prepare supper in the twilight.  And so another day … a good day absorbing the landscape … came to an end.

Imprimatura: Venetian Red.

The Pigments used were:  Rublev Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Italian Burnt Sienna, Lead White #2 & Flemish Lead White, with Winsor & Newton Cobalt & Cerulean Blues and Venetian Red.

High Desert in Winter

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C1581

"High Desert in Winter"

(Beattys Butte, Oregon High Desert)

Oil Sketch on Ampersand Gesso Panel

4" x 6"

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I finished the Oil Sketch, “Winter Aspens” (posted last time on the blog), and drove 11 miles to the above view, startling a coyote near the Refuge HQ on the way.  The main mountain in this view is Beattys Butte, but the massif includes 3 or 4 other peaks behind, one of which is Mahogany Butte, for those of you who might be familiar with the area.  I had a bite to eat while I studied the scene.  The flat, white area in the middle distance is the dry bed of Flook Lake, and I am near the entrance to a two track road that goes down there and beyond; worth exploring in the dry season … I’m now experienced in what roads are best left for another time, thanks to the mud-fest. 

Cloud came in slowly from the southwest (off to the right in this painting), while I worked and so I reckon there will be no Geminiids visible tonight.  Just as well, since a good night’s rest is in order, now that I’m daily painting.  Beattys Butte, and its attendant massif, is about 16 miles away.  I have addressed the issue of perceived distance before, and no doubt will again, but it is so interesting to look out over great distances in landscapes such as this, and realizing how distant certain features actually are.  To the left of me, as I paint, Steens Mountain lies about 35 miles distant, with its heights lost in cloud, and behind me there are distant hills 50 miles away. 

After finishing this sketch, second of the day, I drove back to camp in the twilight, and on the Hot Springs road, after passing the HQ, a pair of coyotes came running down the road towards me, and without stopping they split and continued on both sides of my truck.  I got a good look at the one on the driver’s side; healthy, and with bushy fur … all decked out for Winter.  I stopped and inspected their footprints, as they rejoined and ran on down the road.  Yep; same footprints as I have seen before and decided were coyote tracks, at my various track sightings. The Owls were hooting closer tonight as I prepared supper, with my red light headlamp on my head, in the darkening sky and with a light snow falling as I cooked.  It doesn’t get any better than this.

Imprimatura: Venetian Red; the Pigments used the usual Rublev Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Italian Burnt Sienna & Lead White #2, with Winsor & Newton Venetian Red and Cobalt & Cerulean Blues.