Bunkhouse Deluxe

Painting No. 128, Bunkhouse Deluxe
Sossa Brothers Cow Camp, Alpine County, Ca.
9"x 12", oil on linen panel
August 14, 2011

I took off for Ebbett's Pass in the hope of finding a stream or lake to paint but nothing was catching my eye. Then I came around a curve and noticed the bunkhouse just off the road, I couldn't resist.
It was probably built in the early 60's when steel and aluminum were constructed to last forever. Now with it's after-market wooden screen door, smoke stack and sagging porch it probably doesn't see much action except for a few brave cowboys in the fall.

Painting from Small to Large Paintings Part 3

 As the painting is slowly coming together, it is important to see the details of the painting rather than viewing the whole painting at once. By focusing on small zones within the overall image, we can work diligently to perfect these small areas which will eventually fill-in the entire painting. My biggest struggles were with the back lit trees in the lower 1/3 of the painting. I think I repainted those 4 times.

Then the final struggle was the trees in the lower right corner. Trying to balance the shadow details with the highlights and keeping everything in perspective with the trees in the direct background. I like the way the painting came out, I think I captured the essence of Faith Valley and maintained the color/atmospheric qualities of the Sierra's.

Painting from Small to Large Paintings Part 2

After selecting your subject matter, painting field sketches and photographing the scene, the next step is to lay-in the basic line work.
Start by blocking in a background wash, green for the tree area, blue for distant mountains, yellow for the sky. Since the subject is well known in the Sierra's, I took the time to properly lay-in the correct height, width and location of all objects. To accomplish this I used several photographs and I drew a grid system directly on the photo then transferred the scale proportionately to the canvas using a small brush and French Ultramarine paint.

Next I worked back to front, painting the distant mountains in detail, then the mid ground mountains, again in detail leaving the sky for the end. In this photo I have also painted the closest shadows of the willows that grow in the meadow. This is my reference to compare all other values against.