Colorado oil paint series
Spring
Spring in the mountains is often called the “mud season,” but for the painter this is a bit of a misnomer. Nature is up and running from its winter slumber. Though it is the briefest of the mountain seasons, it is a truly thrilling time for the artist. The rivers and streams pound with ice-cold mountain runoff. From the shore, all manner of giant debris--felled trees taller than a house--can be seen bobbing like a child’s toy down the river. The water is green-brown with froth and white caps and sky blue ripples. One day there is a muddy field, the next, tall, defiant, verdant mountain grass. The mountains are a kaleidoscope of greens--green shoots, budding leaves, evergreens and even the rushing water.
Summer
In the summer the mountains and their cliffs have been washed clean by the spring rains and amazing reds, pinks, oranges, ochres, grays and even blue strata are revealed, and the foliage has established its deepest of greens. From noon to two o’clock in the afternoon, you had better be in the shade with a hat and plenty of water.
Fall
Fall in the mountains is fireworks in slow motion. The backdrop consists of dark greens, grays and blues with bursts of lime green, yellows ranging from Cadmium to Azo and oranges from gold to autumn rust. The massive forests of aspens dotting the Rockies are the west’s version of Vermont’s maples, but at 8000-plus feet.
Winter
Winter for me is big bright blue skies and an almost complete blanket of unifying snow. It requires all the whites: titanium, flake and zinc white, and the big blues: ultramarine, cobalt and cerulean and, surprisingly, a lot of black and grey. My goal for a winter scene is to capture the positive feeling of the reflected sun and blues of the forever Colorado sky.
