Another Attempt at Getting it Right

“Snowy Ridge Trail,” 9 ½ x 15 ¾ pastel painting on BFK Rives paper using charcoal pencil and various pastels

January 20: Over an hour in the studio on the first go ‘round. Pele came in at first, then Leo came in and laid on the floor beside me. I moved the painting to the standup easel and taped it upside down and wiped off the sky… as much as would come off. Then I moved it back to the DT easel and went at it again. Oh, no. I liked the other better! Oh, well.

I worked the mountains trying to get the shadowing right and the mist smooth. I even used a small makeup sponge to try to make better lines and textures. I tried and tried and wasn’t happy. I played with the sky some more, did some reshaping.

I used Yarka black along the ridge lines because the blues aren’t dark enough. Then added more greenery to the pine tree to make myself feel better.

I was getting frustrated and ready to call it quits when Andy came in. When I stood up and backed away, it didn’t look so bad.

While answering Nan’s email, I pulled up the original photo. Uh, oh, I noticed the funky-shaped closest trees weren’t how I was seeing them. The tallest part actually curves and attaches to the bigger trunk while the tree in the back is short and its top blends with the heavier needled section of the other tree.

I went back in the studio to make a note of this. I made a couple hen scratches to the trees and ended up doing more sky work, too. I made more swoopy blue clouds. Even with some frustration with how to get it right, there’s something so intriguing about this scene and all the shades of blue.