December Evening Gold on Honey Lake.

 

C1704

“December Evening Gold on Honey Lake”

(Northeastern, California)

Oil on Pannelli Telati fine Cotton Panel

5” x 7”

I wrote this post in May and intended to publish it then, but several things intervened; not least of which my automatic email notification service [Feedburner] was being eliminated by Blogger, and so you, my subscribers, were no longer to be notified of new Blog Postings. After much research, it appears that "Follow-it" will be my new notification service. This posting will be part of a test to see how this is working. 

*****

In the third week of December, last, Oregon was left behind as I headed for Colorado. My second day out I wound along the back roads between Klamath Falls, Oregon and Susanville, California. A few miles south of Susanville, on the road to Reno, Nevada, you pass by Honey Lake. It's a magnificent setting, surrounded by low mountains, as it is, and especially wondrous when the lake is still and calm and reflecting the mountains, as it was that evening. The mountains seemed to glow with an internal light of their own, rather than reflecting the light of the evening Sun. Of course we can argue whether it was, in fact, an evening Sun, or a late afternoon Sun, at that time of the year, since it sets well before 6 PM, but I tend to follow the patterns of light and dark, rather than the artificial man-made divisions of the day, when labelling my Paintings. It reminds us of a slower World, than that in which we now live; a time when the Sun … and Moon … and Stars … guided our lives, rather than the impersonal flow of electrical currents. 

It was dark by the time I passed through Reno … celestially … but of course those pesky (or beneficial?), electrons were flowing fiercely throughout Reno, as I headed east.

***** 

Awhile back, I came across a blog post where a painter was extolling the virtues of the pigment Caput Mortuum. I had used it occasionally in Watercolour, where I might use it as a more purpley Indian Red. Now, in oil, since I've had an unused tube of Schmincke's Caput Mortuum for some years, I’ve broken it out and have begun to explore its qualities. I like the purpley darks I get with it when mixed with Ultramarine Deep, and the blue to red lilacs when mixed with Cobalt Blue and Lead White. These last mixtures seem to be useful in tertiary mixtures with brighter colours in the shadow areas. More explorations are forthcoming.

Pigments used in the painting were:

Imprimatura: W&N Venetian Red; 

Pigments: W&N Cadmiums Orange & Yellow Pale, Ultramarine Deep & Cobalt Blues, and Venetian Red;

Schmincke: Caput Mortuum;

Rublev:  Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Orange Molybdate, Lead White #1.

Springtime on the McKenzie.

C1694

“Springtime on the McKenzie”

(Oregon)

Oil on Pannelli Telati fine Cotton Panel

4” x 6”

Sold

Last year on my first night camped in the clearing, where the aspen fell in the grove, I was about to climb into my sleeping bags in the back of the SUV, when I saw these red eyes reflecting back at me ... I use a red headlamp. It's always disconcerting when this happens, until I switch to the green or white colour on the lamp, and identify the bearer of the eyes. A month ago, after finishing a lengthy phone call with my brother, I stepped out of the truck, only to be confronted with a dozen pairs of eyes looking in my direction ... t'was a herd of deer. And that's what it was this time ... a single doe. It did not run off, and continued grazing about twenty feet from me. Very nonchalant. Only twice has it been anything other than a deer, and that was the coyote in Yellowstone, which I spotted from a distance, and identified as it loped closer, and the other was a rabbit in Colorado midnight snacking, spotted as I turned in. The coyote was curious, but never came closer than 15', since it was blinded by the white beam of my light, and I was telling it to “move along ... nothing to see here.” Eventually, off it ambled, and I risked heating up my soup. I digress.

Last year's doe became a bit of a fixture, in that clearing. She appeared just about every day, sometimes more than once. Often she grazed within a few feet of me, as I painted, occasionally within five feet. She always kept a weather eye on me, but I would make no sudden moves, and talked quietly to her as she grazed. She had two Bambis, I believe, but I only saw two, in the deepening dusk, twice. One of the young, or maybe both of them, but singly, came into the clearing with the doe, three or four times, during the day, but never close, and pretty much kept to the edges. I did get photos of her, but not the little ones.

When I camped in the clearing for a day or two in October, she was not there, but when I moved from there over to Spencer Creek, there was a doe with two fawns that came by every evening. One evening as I sat eating supper in the gloaming, the doe came to within five feet of me, and stared at me for the longest time, before sauntering off. I believe she was the same deer who had been at the other camp, although I cannot prove it. Her attitude towards me, and her with two fawns, and the fact we were only two or three miles from my other camp (the one with the aspens), gives me a certain confidence, that she was one and the same. I will be curious to see if she turns up again, if I camp at either this year.

*****

A couple years ago, at the end of my year long Minnesota to Oregon journey through the Southwest, I passed down the canyons and valleys of the McKenzie River in the Oregon Cascades. On one of the broader stretches of the lower river, there were several deciduous trees, brightly lit and standing in high relief against the shadowed, evergreen slopes of the mountains beyond. They positively glowed. The Sun reflected blindingly off the water. Photos were taken.

When I came to paint this small work, I had some Genuine Ultramarine  (Lapis Lazuli), on my palette, and I began blocking in the shadowed mountains with it. I liked how it was looking so I continued with it, using W&N Ultramarine Deep very sparingly for some darker areas and mixtures. I felt like the painters of old, who had Lapis and Azurite as their only blues. Lapis Lazuli was worth more than gold then.

Pigments used in the painting were:

Imprimatura & Drawing: W&N Venetian Red;

Pigments: W&N Cadmiums Orange & Yellow Pale, Ultramarine Deep Blue;

Rublev:  Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, French Red Ochre, Lead White #1;

M. Graham: Cobalt Teal;

Michael Harding: Genuine Ultramarine.

Autumn Willows on Spencer Creek.

C1693

“Autumn Willows on Spencer Creek”

(Winter Ridge, Oregon Basin & Range)

Oil on Pannelli Telati fine Cotton Panel

6” x 8”

Sold

Trees fall in the forest ... and sometimes without being blown over by the wind, and for no apparent reason.  I have borne witness  to that fact, perhaps three times throughout my life. "Perhaps," because the first time was in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in 1993, when my brother Doug, and myself heard a crashing, that sounded like you would think a falling tree would sound, on the other side of shallow ravine from us. There was no further sound, so we ruled out a Moose, or a Bear, or any other such large beast. We decided it was what it sounded like ... a falling tree.

The second time was climbing up the bluffs above China Beach, outside of Brookings, Oregon, about ten years ago. I heard a crashing, similar to what Doug and I had heard in the BWCAW. Startled I turned in time to see a large fir falling across the footpath where I had been walking, just seconds before. “Missed me!”, I exclaimed, “Nice try, though.” It got hung up on other trees so that if you ducked a bit, you could still pass under it on the footpath. This tree fell fom the base so its roots were intact, as though it had been blown over, but there was no wind. The incline was steep, and so I surmise it must have been partially uprooted by wind recently, and finally fell when I was there to witness it.

Then last Summer I camped in a secluded clearing 20 some miles west of Klamath Falls, with an extensive Aspen grove along one side of it. One day while I was painting, I heard that crashing sound and looked over to see the undergrowth still shaking. I went to investigate, and found it was a live Aspen, about 6 inches in diameter, and that it hadn't been uprooted, but had just snapped off about four feet above the ground. There was no apparent reason for it to have done so. It wasn't particularly windy. It didn't appear to be rotten, and all its leaves were green. I still have no theory why this Aspen fell.

The Natural World is so interesting, especially out here in the Wilds, but even in the largest cities it can be interesting, if you take the time to notice. I remember the Springtime before I moved from London down to Cornwall. I had just moved into a new bedsit at the top of the house. When I looked out my windows I was looking through a lattice of tree branches to the street below. When I first moved in they were bare Winter branches, and as the days progressed I watches the leafbuds gradually unfurling and growing into full fledged leaves, and the colours changing with the passage of time and maturity. I concentrated on a particular branch and grouping of buds. Besides the leaves, the occasional bird wandered by as well, but unfortunately I have no nesting stories to tell ... perhaps if I'd stayed in that place for several year ... but Cornwall beckoned, and when that opportunity happened, there was no real contest. Looking back, I had stayed in London, probably five years too long.

*****

Spencer Creek is a few miles from the clearing where the Aspen fell over, and in October when I returned to the area, I camped a hundred yards from this scene. It was not as secluded, but was a lovely spot, and deer came through every day.

Three years ago I laid a final coat of White Lead Priming on a bunch of panels. I have two different lead primers; one by Rublev and the other by Williamsburg.  The Williamsburg is quite stiff, and it occurred to me that if I didn't thin it down with mineral spirits this time, I might be able to get an interesting brush stroke texture in this final layer. And so it was. This is the first of those textured panels that I have used, and I quite like the results. However, I think you have'll to be careful in your choice of subject, when using these panels, but I feel this autumnal leafy stream was a good choice. I hope you do too.

Pigments used in the painting were:

Imprimatura & Drawing: Rublev French Red Ochre;

Pigments: W&N Cadmiums Orange & Yellow Pale, Ultramarine Deep Blue;

Rublev:  Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, French Red Ochre, Orange Molybdate, Lead White #1;

M. Graham: Cobalt Teal;

Michael Harding: Genuine Ultramarine;

Gamblin: Permanent Magenta;

Schmincke: Caput Mortuum.

The Wonderful Snowfall of June the 9th.

C1692

“The Wonderful Snowfall of June the 9th”

(Winter Ridge, Oregon Basin & Range)

Oil on Pannelli Telati fine Cotton Panel

9” x 12”

Click here to make this your Own

This painting was intended to be posted not more than a few days after the smaller study that was posted in mid-May, but once I got back to civilization I found that I had more to do than I had thought, so this posting kept being put off. But now after seventeen days in town, I am back out in the wilds, and I can be getting on with things. It was instructive working on the smaller study (see last post), and it was instructive seeing how much longer this larger one took to do, even with the knowledge already gained. The pigments used were exactly the same for both works, and a nicely limited palette as well.

The Pigments used in the painting were:

Imprimatura & Drawing: Rublev Italian Burnt Sienna;

Pigments: W&N Cobalt & French Ultramarine Blues;

Rublev:  Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Italian Burnt Sienna, Lead White #1.

Two earth colours and blue ... I could have used only the French Ultramarine, for my blue, but the Cobalt was already on the palette, so was used rather than let it go to waste. The French Ultramarine was necessary to mix the darkest greens; darker than could have been achieved with the Cobalt Blue.

In the Block-in, shown below, you can see the effect the Imprimatura still has on the Block-in layer. It still affects the final paint layer, but is less obvious. In the finished work, the Imprimatura gives warmth to the greens, and helps to grey the blues in the distance. It also gives a hint of the earthy red pine needle covered forest floor beneath the thin snow cover, especially in the roadway.

The Block-in

****

I returned to the wilds on Thursday, June 4th, passing through La Pine, and heading east on country  road 22, as the Sun was lowering in the west. With the light behind me, I noticed how hazy it was in the rear view mirror, and then I noticed that the haze was swirling, much as if it were smoke. I looked to the hood of my car to see if smoke or steam was coming out from under, but detected nothing. I looked back in the rear view mirror, raising my head so I could see the road closer to the car in my wing mirrors. It looked like faint whispers of smoke, but the colour was a yellowish green, as was the general haze back down the road. I pulled over, popped the hood, looked under and all around the car, with fire extinguisher in hand, and ... nothing. I stopped twice more ... and nothing.  I reached camp about an hour before the Sun set, and noticed that the dust on the car was yellowish green, but down on the car body, near the wheel wells, it was the usual reddish brown ... the last four miles to camp were on dirt roads.

The next day, after tramping around a bit, I noticed the bottom of my trousers had a layer of yellowish green dust on them. I brushed it off, only for it to return after another bit of tramping around. The day after that as I was tramping around in the woods, I noticed that with each footstep I wouldraise a small cloud of yellowish green dust, which would then settle on the bottom of my trouser legs. I have never noticed this before. Oh, ordinary dust, yes.

There are a couple of possibilities that come to mind. One possibility is that perhaps it was dust carried from a far away place on high altitude winds. Occasionally,  when I lived in England, dust would be carried all the way from the Sahara, in North Africa. Perhaps this was a similar occurrence.  The other possibility is that it is  pollen, from these extensive forest hereabouts. In support of that, the colour reminds me of pollen covering the surface of several lakes up in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in southern Washington, when I was up there in June 2018. It got quite thick in some parts of the lakes. I'm plumping for the pollen theory. If it is pollen I wonder if it is from the pine trees ... I have a vague recollection of hearing of such phenomena.

Additional to the above, is that after a week in camp, I went into La Pine to get ice and fill my water containers. It had rained the previous night, and on the forest roads the now empty puddles and rivulets all had a yellowish green scum-line, like a bathtub ring. I suppose it could be dust from afar, but because it formed these scum-lines, I believe it was finer and lighter than the already fine road dust, and floated on top of the rain water, so I'm still plumping for the pollen.

****

There is a particular type of American moron that comes out to these wild places. I use the term ‘American’ advisedly as it has to do with an attitude of mind to be found predominately, if not exclusively, in this country. The particular persons to which I refer are those that come out to these wild places with the attitude that “since I have a right to be on these public lands, I can pretty much do what I damn well please.”, forgetting  that with rights come responsibilities. In the little over three weeks since I was at my present camp (I'm stopping here briefly before moving further out), it has been occupied by some of the particular morons to which I'm referring. The evidence is several beer cans, broken bottles and empty food tins left in the fire ring; at least four live trees cut down for firewood (I have photographic proof of two that were alive a month ago), ignoring a couple of dead ones that could have been chopped instead (and which would have made a better less smokey fire); spray painting on a tree trunk, and then using the paint can for target practice and then leaving it littering the landscape; driving ATVs off into the surrounding woods, thus leaving ruts which will take months, and sometimes years to disappear (I know they're called All Terrain Vehicles, but they are supposed to be used on roads and certain trails, not willy nilly into the woods, and the National Forest and BLM personel, I believe, would agree).

With rights come responsibilities, and I would go further and say ... obligations, especially here on our public lands, and to the Natural World. A final note would be the leaving of their spent cartridge casings littered about the camp ... this latter almost every shooter seems to do ... I have done so, but nowadays, if I do a bit of plinking, I try to police up my shell casings as much as I can. The amount of brass piled up since last month, indicates there must have been a tremendous firefight here ... attempting to protect all that toilet paper they no doubt hoarded at the beginning of the pandemic. I have no real objections to a bit of target practice.; I just wish that some of the brass would be picked up afterwards.   What I truly object to is the wanton, and very unnecessary, destruction of living trees for too large campfires, and the littering of the landscape, with no regard, or respect, for others who come afterwards to these same wild places. I say again ... with rights come responsibilities and  obligations, to your fellow man, and especially out here in the wild places ... to Nature.  Learn respect for these wild places,  or please stay home. 

Lessons from a Fly (or was it a Bee?)

C1691

“Study … the Wonderful Snowfall of June the 9th”

(Winter Ridge, Oregon Basin & Range)

Oil Sketch on Centurion Oil Primed Linen Panel

5” x 7”

SOLD 

A week after cutting my way back into Oregon, in June of 2018, and before I got up to Three Creeks Lake (see my last post), I was up on Winter Ridge, 3000' above Summer Lake, and a couple miles north of Fremont Point. The 8^th of June was a peerless day, and drifts of buttercups were shining brightly in the green grass of any open meadow that I happened to pass by. Winter was the last thing to be expected, but it's not called Winter Ridge for nothing. I awoke to a wonderful soft snowfall, of a couple of inches, increasing to four by the time I meandered down the west slope to Thompson Reservoir, where the campers there were only experiencing a bit of rain.

It was a wonderful, magical snowfall, and it's been on my list to paint since then. The soft snowfall at my camp on April 4^th this year, got me to thinking about my June 9^th, 2018, Winter Ridge experience, and so I dug out the reference photos, and painted away. I had taken the photos during an intermission in the snowfall, so the hardest part of the painting was remembering where each and every snowflake had been before the snowfall took its pause;D (chuckle), but I got ‘er done! This small Oil, turned out to be a study, for a larger (9" x 12"), finished Oil painting of this magical moment, so I'm warning you in advance that that one will feature in my next post, and quite a bit more costly, I hasten to add.

I am going to change the subject now and return us to the camp I was in when painting the “Ode to an Ancient.”, several postings ago. It was here that I was reminded yet again of how interesting and surprising the Natural World can be, even in the smallest of observances. As children, I believe we noticed many more such things, that we as adults completely overlook, or, indeed, do not take the time to let the small things come to our notice. Whilst supping breakfast, early one morn, I noticed a shaft of light coming through the trees, and reflecting off a tiny object suspended about ten feet off the ground. I had been gazing at it for some time, before it actually registered in my consciousness. At first I took it to be a spider dangling on its gossamer strand, but then I realized it was a small bee, or one of those flies that look like bees. It hung there, staying in position, seemingly motionless, but obviously hovering by the sheer rapidity of its wingbeats, which upon inspection were a blur. Now I’ve seen bees hover over flowers for a second or two and then move on, but this wee beastie, hovered ten feet off the ground for 10 or 12 seconds at a stretch, and then would dart  in some direction for a distance of 10 to 15 inches, halt and go rapidly back to its original position. I had never noticed this phenomena before, but thanks to a shaft of light glancing off it, and causing it to glow like a jewel in the forest, it had come to my attention. A bit of  scanning throughout the clearing revealed several more of these hovering creatures, but none were lit up like the one that first caught my attention. I expect I might have seen this behavior many times before, but had not noticed. I kept my eye out for it the next morning and sure enough it was there. Perhaps this hovering and periodically darting forth only to resume it’s position, was a mating ritual, or maybe it was a defense of a specific territory, or was the darting an assault on some unseen prey (I doubt this latter) … I'll probably never know, but now that I have seen this, l will notice it again, and in fact I did so, later last Summer, in another clearing, 25 miles west of Klamath Falls.

“Inconsequential … who cares(?) … Let's drink beer, get neked and drive fast!,” I hear you say … well, some of you, perhaps … actually, none of you. But some of you have thought it … in your darker moments … however brief (come on, admit it) … but of course you never acted upon such rebellious desires, as no doubt I have a better class of reader (aside from the possibility of arrest or fatal accident, or both).

But enough of the meandering mind. What I am postulating is that to take notice of your surroundings, taking time to see the small, inconsequential things, as well as the larger, more sublime moments (storms, snowfalls, the magnificence of the Desert Night Sky come to mind), enriches your life, and takes you outside the realm the mundane. I know my life is richer for it … even noticing a fly/bee hovering in the dark forest, caught like a jewel within a shaft of light.

The Pigments used in the painting are:

Imprimatura & Drawing: Rublev Italian Burnt Sienna;

Pigments: W&N Cobalt & French Ultramarine Blues;

Rublev:  Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Italian Burnt Sienna, Lead White #1.

Early Summer on Three Creeks Lake

C1690

“Early Summer on Three Creeks Lake”

(Oregon Cascades)

Oil on Raymar L64C Oil PrimedPanel

12” x 24”

Private Collection

After I had cut my way back into Oregon (here), in early June 2018, at the end of my year long journey back from Minnesota, it still was another two weeks before I returned to my base of operations. During this time I further explored, places I had been to before, and also new areas. One of the latter was Three Creeks Lake, about 16 miles south of the town of Sisters. Later in the year I received a commission to paint Three Creeks Lake. Of course the view that was ultimately desired, I had not discovered on my one time there, so had no reference photos to hand, and it was too late in the year to get up there, as Winter had already begun at that altitude.

So it was the following Summer that the photos were finally taken.  I went up there twice in 2019, and it was on the second trip that the perfect photography day occurred, with the early morning light and then the right amount of interesting clouds casting shadows across the landscape. Half my life seems to be taken up with waiting for cloud shadows to move while on photo-recon, but sometimes the day has just the right amount of cloud, and this day was one; the bonus was that the clouds were also interesting. The painting was worked on throughout the Autumn, and finished in January. It's always surprising to me, how long it takes to paint the various areas of a painting. You'd think I'd know by now. In this work, the foreground (everything on this side of the lake), took longer to complete than the whole rest of the painting! When I started on the foreground, I figured I was almost done with it, thinking it would take about half as long as it actually did … the eternal optimist. Nevertheless, it was an interesting piece to do, thanks to the perfect photo-reference day.  

The Imprimatura & Drawing

The Block-in

The Imprimatura and the Drawing took most of the day to do. The bit of blue sky in the photo was part of the Block-in phase, begun the next day; I just forgot to photograph it before I started on the Block-in. Two afternoons were spent on the Block-in. The first afternoon's Block-in was spent mostly on the sky, and the rest of the landscape on the second. If I had been in my studio, and painting far into the night like I used to do, it would have been blocked in, in a day. But painting next to a lovely Autumn creek out in the Wild, under natural light … well, those Autumn days are getting shorter (the Autumn creek is incidental to the story).

In the pigments list below, I mention using Genuine Lapis Lazuli. It is not an affectation. Oh, the first tiny tube I got on my 30^th birthday, from Winsor & Newton, might have been, except that I wanted to see what the Old Masters had used for their finest blue. However, it was Oil, and I painted mostly in Watercolour in those days, so I never used that one; it's still good, however, and I will use it eventually. But when I bought the Michael Harding Lapis, the size of tube was such that I had no qualms about trying it out; it was also not that expensive for what it was! I first used it in a painting commissioned by a Middle Eastern Potentate (no not the obvious one ... there are others), through the Federation of British Artists.  I first used it as a glaze, but where it excels is in mixtures within the landscape … I can only describe it as a soft blue colour, not very powerful, which mixes well with the quieter landscape colours, especially in the distance. I kind of liken it to the Lead Whites, which mix so well with the colours on your palette, that you don't have to worry about it, unlike Titanium which is cold, powerful and opaque, and readily lends itself to chalkiness if care is not taken. I pity the poor European artists these days, who are stuck with only Titanium to paint with … if they have a mind to paint like Rembrandt they will never achieve it with Titanium; poor sods. But I digress. Let me just say that using Genuine Lapis Lazuli, for some applications, allows quicker and easier results, than the stronger, man made Ultramarines. Make no mistake, I use the manufactured Ultramarines for most things when those blues are needed, but the Lapis has found its place on my palette. And by the way, I do use Titanium, sparingly, when a strong, opaque white is needed.

The Pigments used in the painting are:

Imprimatura & Drawing: W&N Venetian Red;

Pigments: W&N: Cobalt, French Ultramarine & Ultramarine Deep Blues, Cadmiums Yellow Pale & Orange, Venetian Red;

Rublev: Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Italian Burnt Sienna, Lead White #1 & #2;

M. Graham: Cobalt Teal;

Gamblin: Permanent Magenta;

Michael Harding: Genuine Lapis Lazuli.

Ponderosa Evening.

C1684

“Ponderosa Evening”

(Oregon High Desert)

Oil on Pannelli Telati Canvas  Panel

9” x 12”

Click here to make this Your Own

The 4^th of July was a quite magical day for me, perched as I was, high on the slopes of a mountainside south of Lake Timothy, Oregon Cascades, at 4400’ above sea level, and not a soul to disturb me the entire four days I was there. What made it magical was, that instead of fireworks, I had butterflies … all day … dozens of them flitting all about, and through my car, from one open door and out another, and setting about upon the car itself, sometimes a dozen, or more, on my door frame.  Pure magic!  And they were there the following two days as well, as soon as the Sun warmed them enough to come out from wherever they spent their nights … no doubt in some salubrious Butterfly Pub hidden from human eyes within the forest deeps. One even peed on me! I never knew they did that, having never witnessed that before. But as one was sitting on my sun visor, I happened to see it vibrate a bit and exude a fine spray of droplets onto my knee below. It soon evaporated to nothing. Not gross … a butterfly peeing on me is really the least of my worries. They seem to be mostly a type of Tortoiseshell and a few Painted Ladies … and there were Hummingbirds too!

There is less wildlife in evidence here in the deep forests of the Cascades, comparatively speaking to that which I observed out on the edge of the Ponderosa Pine Forests of the High Desert … I was out there again at the end of May and the first three weeks of June. One of the new dispersed campsites I found had as many as six or eight chipmunks in view at any one time, on occasion. Of course upon observing them with my book of North American Mammals in hand, I discovered that they were not all chipmunks. Some were Golden Mantled Ground Squirrels, which resemble a larger chipmunk, but have only two dark stripes on its back.  There was also another plainer ground squirrel, I did not identify. But the last few days there was only one chipmunk at a time, perhaps the same one, and a pair of Douglas Squirrels. A few Chickadees, a Raven and a couple of other birds (Varied Thrushes I think), were all I saw, again unlike out in the Ponderosas where I spotted many new ones, and there was always something flitting about. But it was good to be up there, these recent days, with the Rhododendrons in their prime as well as the Beargrass. In May out in the High Desert, the sagebrush was in its lovely silvery, with a hint of yellow, Spring greens, and the Antelope Bitterbrush (a type of Cliff Rose), was in bloom, as though a mist of Primrose Yellow coated the landscape (European Primroses, as I am not really familiar with the North American kind).

Beargrass

Close up

Edge of the Clearing where I was camped.

 

Antelope Bitterbrush

Closer ...

... Closer Still.

Pigments used in the painting:

Imprimatura: Rublev Italian Burnt Sienna;

Drawing: Rublev Italian Burnt Sienna;

Pigments: W&N Cobalt and Ultramarine Deep Blues, Cadmiums Orange & Yellow Pale;

Rublev: Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, French Red Ochre, Italian Burnt Sienna, Lead White #1;

Schmincke: Caput Mortuum;

M. Graham: Cobalt Teal;

Michael Harding: Stack Lead White.

Evening Surf

C1683

“Evening Surf”

(Bandon, Oregon)

Oil on Pannelli Telati Canvas  Panel

6” x 8”

Click here to make this Your Own

Close up of the Painting.

Angled view showing the Red Oxide
on the edge of the floated panel
and lip of the frame.

This painting is being listed for sale through the Daily Paintworks site for one week only as if it remains unsold by the end of the auction, it will be going into a Gallery.  I am also offering it for sale as a framed piece. The painting is floated in its frame so as not to lose any part of it beneath the rabbet of the frame. Once it is floated onto its backing, there is no turning back and it must be sold framed.  I usually frame in a dark frame, as it brings out the colours in the work and makes them sing.

Pigments used in the painting:

Imprimatura: Rublev Italian Burnt Sienna;

Drawing: Rublev Italian Burnt Sienna;

Pigments: W&N Cobalt and Ultramarine Deep Blues, Cadmiums Orange & Yellow Pale, Permanent Rose;

Rublev: Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Lead White #1;

Schmincke: Caput Mortuum;

M. Graham: Cobalt Teal;

Michael Harding: Stack Lead White.

Misty Midnight Ride

C1681

“Misty Midnight Ride”

(Bandon, Oregon)

Oil on Pannelli Telati Canvas  Panel

6” x 8”

Click here to make this Your Own

Close up of the Painting.

Angled view showing the Red Oxide
on the edge of the floated panel
and lip of the frame.

This painting is being listed for sale through the Daily Paintworks site for one week only as if it remains unsold by the end of the auction, it will be going into a Gallery.  I am also offering it for sale as a framed piece. The painting is floated in its frame so as not to lose any part of it beneath the rabbet of the frame. Once it is floated onto its backing, there is no turning back and it must be sold framed.  I usually frame in a dark frame, as it brings out the colours in the work and makes them sing.

Pigments used in the painting:

Imprimatura: Rublev Italian Burnt Sienna;

Drawing: Rublev Italian Burnt Sienna;

Pigments: W&N Cobalt and Ultramarine Deep Blues, Cadmium Orange;

Rublev: Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Lead White #1;

Schmincke: Caput Mortuum;

Michael Harding: Stack Lead White.

Crap Winter.

Winter 2018 - 2019… and finally out into the Wilds at the end of March.

C1680

“Grazing through a Soft Rain

& Last of the Winter Snows Melting Away”

Oil Study on Centurion Oil Primed Panel

4” x 6”

Click here to make this Your Own

This past Winter was so annoying as I was stuck hanging around civilization for five (COUNT 'EM!) … five months, waiting on things that were out of my control to happen.  After the first four months I was ready to head out by mid-February, but then every few days the weather reports were of heavy snowfalls in the Cascades and Eastern Oregon.  So what, I thought you were a Winter guy?  I hear you enquire.  There is a difference between already being out in the Wilds, before the snows come, and gauging whether you should retreat or stay put, and coming into an already snowy High Desert, without knowing the state of the roads or the dispersed campsites.  And then I came down with the first cold/flu since I don’t know when … certainly before 2010 … it was bugger, as they say in Jolly Old …!

End of the Day from the western rim
of Hole in the Ground.

Evening light … Ponderosa Pines.

Anyway I finally got out to the Hole in the Ground area at the end of March, camping at the actual rim of the Hole, for a couple of days, and a mile back down the road for a few more.  I believe I have talked about Hole in the Ground before, so to just refresh your memory, it is a crater in the ground about half a mile across.  It is a volcanic maar, which is formed when basaltic magma rising close to the surface comes into contact with groundwater resulting in a steam or gas explosion.  They are shallow circular craters, that usually fill with water, but not these maars out here in the Fort Rock Valley, where there are to be found upwards of forty of them, so I am informed.  These may have had water once, but no more, although a small, shallow waterhole is to be found in Hole in the Ground. Big Hole and Fort Rock are two others.

The road to Hole in the Ground was icy in spots and the smaller roads were snow covered and probably impassible in many spots, so it was probably good that I hadn’t come out earlier.  Many of these roads were also closed for deer regeneration, until March 31^st as well.  My second camp was a bit rainy for several days, so I did the small work above while there.  Deer came grazing through every couple of days, so there was nothing for it but to dab them into the painting; look closely … there are seven of them.  The rains were soft and quiet, for the most part, only blustery for a couple of stretches, and after three or four days of this the icy patches on the roads were reduced to almost nothing.

Storm crossing Fort Rock.

Largest Western Juniper in Oregon …

… da Bark of da tree.

Wary on his stump.

I moved a few miles after this a few miles to past Cabin Lake (no lake … no more), and had views forty miles across the desert towards Winter Ridge, above Summer Lake, the Connley Hills (separating Christmas Valley and Silver Lake), and Hager Mountain, south beyond them, and subsequently thus beyond Silver Lake. Here I watched snow showers ripping across the desert for a couple of days, rarely getting hit myself, and then settled into another more secluded camp about a mile from that camp.  Here I remained for a goodly period, as some camper had constructed a solid picnic table out of split logs, and there was a convenient stump upon which to place my camp stove!  The Forest Service would not have built this table, especially in a dispersed campsite.  On a nearby tree was a memorial wreath … I am guessing those responsible for the wreath were also responsible for said table.

Nine years ago, at Easter-time, my alternator went out as I arrived at Derrick Cave, about 20 miles northeast of Fort Rock.  Lucky for me it was Easter Saturday, so there were a couple of cars there.  One of them gave me a jump and on the way back to Fort Rock, jump-started me three more times!  I had cell connection there and rang up AAA, and long story short, I was back out at Derrick Cave by the next afternoon with a new alternator.  This time was less eventful, and I had my headlamp and so made it down into the depths of the lava tube, that is the cave, to where there is ice; sometimes all Summer long.

The lava tube known as Derrick Cave.

Sand dunes on the way
to the Lost Forest.

I had toyed with the idea of making it out to the Lost Forest, another 30 miles east from there, back in 2010, but it was not until this trek that I made it.  Not so difficult to get there, but rocky rough roads once you’re in there. The Lost Forest is a Ponderosa Pine forest separated from any other Pondies by 40 miles, and endures the driest conditions of any Pondies in Oregon.  They are also genetically different from the normal Pondies and the young trees grow more rapidly than others, according to an inter-agency biologist I ran into while leaving the forest.  I had all 9000 acres to myself for two nights.

Last light on the Junipers.

Ponderosas in the Lost Forest.

Morning on the edge of the Lost Forest.

Sand dunes upon leaving the Lost Forest …
a different day.

Mt. Washington beyond Suttle Lake
... in the Cascades.

The painting at the beginning is the only one I did on the spot, as I needed to prepare several for a Marine Art Show.  I also needed to return on the 1^st of May to civilization, but I am headed back out to the Wild tomorrow … Yaaaaaaaay!!!

Pigments used in the painting:

Imprimatura: Rublev Italian Burnt Sienna;

Drawing: Rublev Italian Burnt Sienna;

Pigments: W&N Cobalt and Ultramarine Deep Blues, Cadmiums Orange;

Rublev: Red Ochre, Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Italian Burnt Sienna, Lead White #1;

Gamblin: Titanium Buff;

Michael Harding: Stack Lead White.