Scotts Bluff Nebraska

About a half a lifetime ago, back in 2011, the boys went on a camping trip to the Dakotas, and it was the best outdoorsy experience of my life. As I work on my painting, it seems only reasonable to go back through the hundreds of pictures I took during that trip (and others) and attempt to paint some of those scenes...

Near Scotts Bluff Nebraska

After flying into Denver, we drove through the southeast corner of Wyoming (Cheyenne) and then into western Nebraska before heading north into the Black Hills of South Dakota and then on into North Dakota (Theodore Roosevelt National Park North Unit to be specific). The views around Scotts Bluff were amazing...

Armed with a bunch of large tubes of Charvin oil paints and a host of dirt-cheap canvas panels from Walmart (Daler Rowney and Royal & Langnickel brands), I've committed to getting over my fear of starting a painting. Maybe. Anyway, here's a rough sketch in thinned burnt sienna of the picture from July 30, 2011...

A rough sketch

... and the first layer of an oil painting sketch. The point of this exercise is to paint something quickly. Paint what you see. This was done in about 30 minutes. When it has tacked up in a few days, I will go back and clean it up. This will be primarily focused on the large bluff to the right, which is a hot mess at this point. But fixable. I'll also be adjusting the green tones of the grasslands. There are supposed to be brighter green highlights but everything is a little too olivey-brown. Part of this is the lighting for the picture - the colors are more vibrant on the canvas than they are in the photo.

Near Scotts Bluff Nebraska, 11" by 14"

I'm looking for a representation, not an exact duplication. This is something that is easy to get hung up on as a beginning artist. I don't need to copy the photograph (why would I...I already have the photograph). Evocative. Not a photocopy in paint.

Anyway, it's a Saturday. I did the thing - I made a painting. Tomorrow's another day...