FALL AT BRAGG CREEK

Sometimes, when you are doing a commission, clients don't want the work displayed on the internet. And sometimes, you get the honor of working with a client who is happy to see and share the process of the painting, who considers it all part of the excitement of the creative process.


That is the client I am working for right now. She is happy to see the process of her piece being built layer by layer. So, I am going to post some of the process her painting has gone through to this point. I think I will be done by the end of this month...I hope so. It takes a long time for oil to cure when you work the way I do - layer upon layer. But I love the results - so for me it is totally worth the time and effort.

Fall at Bragg Creek underpainting

Here you get an idea of the size of the canvas on my easel- 30" x 40". It is large, but not so large as to be unwieldy. I did the underpainting in acrylic, locating where the elements of the painting would be situated. The very far distance has mountains against the sky, then foothills, then dark of evergreens against bright yellows of poplar trees. In the middle ground will be various layers of bushes and grasses. In the foreground is the creek, rocks, reeds, and the reflections of the overhead clouds in the water. 

I have already painted in the first layer of blue water and reflected clouds in oil paint, as well as the blue of the sky. Looking good already!

BRAGG CREEK

Bragg Creek
20" x 24"
oil on standard canvas

I began this painting several months ago. My art show in November took a lot of my time, as well as commissions for clients, and Christmas. Then came teaching students in the New Year - and so this painting got put aside for quite some time. 
I finally pulled it out a short while ago, and now it is finished. Bragg Creek is an area in the Foothills of the Rocky Mountains, about 30 minutes from where I live. I was driving there in the fall, and stopped a little bridge to take a picture of this scene. The mountains were barely visible in the distance, and the bushes were just gorgeous! against the dark greens of the evergreens. It was a spectacular scene. I believe I have captured the essence of it - I love how this painting turned out! Hope you do too. 

Bragg Creek - wip

Bragg Creek - a work in progress

20" x 24" oil on canvas

I am truly a beginner when it comes to oil paint... I LOVE the gorgeous values I see in oil paintings, but trying to achieve that look and keep things highly representational is not all that easy I have found.

This is a painting of a place about 1/2 hour away from where I live, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. As you can see, it is in the fall of the year. Here in southern Alberta, we have mostly yellows as our fall tree colors, but the bushes and some of the grasses have touches of orange and red.

I have yet to define the "path" which will lead your eye into and through the painting. I will do that with touches of bright color in the bushes which dominate the growth in this painting. As well, I want to add more depth to the color of the mountains in the background to create more atmosphere. Right now, they are too difficult to see.

There's much to do yet... rocks in the water, details in the foreground bushes and grasses, highlights... but I think I will let this layer dry before I go back in. Otherwise, I find that it is quite messy and it takes me longer to develop the painting than if I worked on something else for a bit and came back to this one when it's ready to receive more attention!

I hope to have this one completed in the next couple of weeks though. I want to enter it into an art show that is toward the end of September, and it needs to have plenty of time to dry!

BRAGG CREEK - underpainting

Bragg Creek underpainting

20" x 24" standard canvas

I love being able to drive for 30 minutes and end up in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains! A couple of years ago, in the fall, I was in Bragg Creek, a small hamlet just 30 minutes west of my home. It was a glorious fall day - bright, warm and so special for late September! I had left the retreat I was attending, and gone for a drive with my camera in hand. At one point, I stopped to take a picture just before a bridge which crossed over a small stream. The late afternoon sun was perfect, the reflections in the stream crisp and still. In the very far distance you could see the mountains as well as the closer foothills.

I used this photo for my calendar which I produced and sold at my 2009 Art Show which I held in my home. It was a very successful venture - and I am anticipating it being even better this year.

I enjoyed this photo, and the afternoon of exploration so much that I decided to do an oil representation of this location. The canvas is 20" x 24", so there is quite a bit of canvas to cover. As I work on this painting, I also will be working on my "sky" series of smaller paintings, as well as about a dozen textured acrylic paintings. I do love what I do!