11 May 2013

slowing it down

A friend and her mother and I recently went on a 3-day hiking and painting adventure in the Kananaskis.  The lodge we stayed at is located just above the Lower Kananaskis Lake, about an hour's drive from here, and the mountains are a completely different environment from the prairie barely-foothills of home.


How great to slow it down, spend a few days out of range of cell phones and internet access!  This was a relaxing and productive trip indeed.


Day 1 - around 8am.
A last-minute dash to finish gesso'ing a few small canvases in my studio.


Day 1 - around 1pm
Acrylic ink on gesso'd sketchbook paper, 9x12 inches
 View to the left of our lunch spot on the lake below our cabin.


Day 1 - around 3pm 
Acrylic ink on gesso'd sketchbook paper, 9x12 inches
View to the right of our lunch spot.


Day 2 - around 11am
Oil on canvas, 12x13 inches
A short drive from our cabin, near a different, smaller lake.


Day 2 - around 1pm
Oil on canvas, 10x10 inches
View from the other side of the Lower Kananaskis Lake.


Day 2 - around 3pm
Oil on canvas, 10x10 inches
View in the opposite direction from above.


Day 2 - around 10pm
portrait of M, china marker on paper, 9x12 inches

Day 2 - around 10:30pm
portrait of J, graphite on paper, 9x12 inches


The third day I forgot to photograph my paintings in front of the landscapes which inspired them, so here are a few photos to show how it was:

Day 3 - around 1pm
Painting perch on the rocks of a mostly-dry waterfall.

Day 3 - first view

first painting, photographed later in my studio

This is my favourite painting of the trip.  I like that I used a small, very old and worn-down brush to scratch through the paint layers to get the lighter bits in the trees.  Much more delicate mark than a "good" brush will make.


Day 3 - around 3pm
same perch, different view

second painting, photographed later in my studio

This is my least favourite painting of the trip.  But what the heck, I certainly don't always make great work so here it is, my rock painting disaster, haha.


And a few more photos from our trip:



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