The White Chief oil painting might have been a teensy bit too hard for me, but I got-‘er-dun. Here is how it looked last time I showed you.
Now there is more detail on the bank above the pond and more detail on the lower left corner. The pond has some new color too.
New day, new work on the painting: first thing in the morning is intense sunlight (and shadow from the window pane divider).
I’ll work on the middle left. Here’s a close-up of the before:
And here’s a close up of the after. The lighting has changed so it isn’t a completely fair comparison.
Now I am sort of going all over the lower half of the canvas, improving anything that I can see how to improve. The pond, lower right, and middle right all got some new layers of detail.
Just the lower right corner needed attention.
One more session, and the Fat Lady got to sing.
So, which task is harder: hiking to White Chief, or painting it?
Painting it, for sure!!
I drew it on, stepped back, and said, “Nope. Too much sky”.
With another color, I drew it again, stepped back, and said, “Yeppers, get the first layer on.” I did not actually vocalize these words, but the attitude was “HUBBA HUBBA! CHOP CHOP!! ANDALE ANDALE!!”
My plan is to use the colors and light and water from the photo on the right but the trees from the photo on the left. This plan isn’t evident just yet, particularly in light of the fact that those photos are too reflective for you to see.
Nice view from Lookout, the first glimpse of Sawtooth. Mostly we were thrilled by clear air!
The home site was farther than we expected along a sort of road that was very overgrown. There wasn’t much to photograph except the cedar trees and the fireplace. Isn’t it weird how that photo looks black and white, or maybe sepia toned??
We toodled on up to Redwood Creek (the 2 redwoods sometimes known as “Aunt Tillie and Uncle Pete”) for a quick lunch; the face flies were annoying because it was in the high 60s and low 70s out. Weird on December 28.
Trail Guy suggested that we go on up the hill to the Mineral King where there are no face flies. There is also no snow.
Crystal Creek has ice but is still flowing.
Sawtooth looked nice on the way back down the hill. It isn’t that nice – it simply appears to be nice. Wait, I mean it has a nice appearance. (I have a not-nice history with that peak. . . )
The upper half of the Mineral King road has potholes. The lower part has potholes, more potholes, crumbling edges and overgrown borders. The public’s frustration is expressed on the sign – look closely, and you will see so much frustration that the writer used a double negative, which contradicts his intent.
This may be the second most photographed cabin; it is near Cold Springs campground and gets great sun in the fall and winter. (Probably in the summer too, but we are further up the road, taking pictures of the first most photographed cabin instead.)
