I've painted this image before but in a limited palette of colors. This time I decided to bring out all of the colors and get "colorful".
This lake is up above the community of Mammoth Lakes in the Eastern Sierra. It's situated on a little plateau overlooking the bulk of the mountains in the Ansel Adams Wilderness. It's almost like an island sitting on top of a detached hill. Great Place. (Good fishing, too!)
8x10 oil on board
I spent this last weekend (3-day weekend, actually) painting at a workshop presented by Southern California painter Elin Pendleton. It was my second from her and, as expected, very well done. Elin is a great teacher and an fantastic artist. Visit her website or blog for a treat.
Elin has a color management system that's very helpful in maintaining consistency and harmony in a painting. As a series of exercises, we painted several studies based on different times of the day. Here are a few:
Mid-day light
Back lighting
Morning light
Fog / overcast 
This is from a photo I took a couple of weeks ago in one of my favorite desert washes out in Anza Borrego State Park. Many of the better known palm groves have burned in recent fires or been damaged. This canyon still has several small groves scattered along a spectacular canyon. Can't wait to go back!
11x14 oil on linen board
Here are a couple of steps I remembered to photograph:
- This is the initial thumbnail sketch for positioning
- After a quick drawing, I added some transparent washes to establish the values.
