Over Christmas of 2018, I went to Yosemite and hiked out of the valley, along the Snow Creek trail. It’s a great hike — with ample switchbacks that offer a different perspective of Half Dome as well as regular views of Mount Watkins.
I brought photos of this back to the studio and played around with the view in oils.
Read MoreI had some old paintings stacked in the studio that were hideous. Really, quite bad. But I couldn't bring myself to throw away a decent stretched canvas, so I scraped them down (a bit), layered on a coat of titanium white, and threw down some glacier inspired shapes and colors. This weekend I layered on some darker shades and some are starting to come together alright. In a few, the texture of the old painting underneath works. In others, it looks stupid; I'll probably end up trashing those. Going to let them simmer for a bit and then go in for a third round next weekend. Regardless of whether any of them make it through the month, it makes my soul happy to be working with oils.
