What an interesting day this has been.  I have two teenage boys staying here for a few days, and they decided to go snowmachine riding on the lake this morning.  I didn't see much activity out there, so I assumed they were having fun....until I got the phone call.  One machine had stalled, and it was stuck out in the middle of the lake.  Of course, there was no choice but to assist them in their dilemna.  There was no problem starting up the other machine, but once on the lake I soon realized there was a LOT of deep snow out there!  After gunning the machine to the hilt so I wouldn't get stuck, it was time to break a trail for them.  To make a long story short, we had an exhausting two hours of stuck, unstuck, stuck again until finally making it back home.

Oh, if you want to see larger images of these pictures, go to the main web page, and click on the painting in the portfolio of work.  Then, you can click on a larger image, so you can see it better. I hope this helps! 

The painting progress was stalled, but not all was lost.  After unwinding and getting my breath back and the shaking stopped, it was time to get back to work.  In the first painting you can see the rocks were emphasized further by deepening the crevices, some calligraphy strokes put in here and there, more spattering with a very wet #10 brush using orange, blue and burnt sienna.  A little bit more color was added to some distant background near the top of the painting.  Salt was added for more texture.  The greenery starts taking shape for the phlox too.  Take a look at picture #1 to see this step.  The maskoid is still on.

Picture #2, the maskoid was removed, so now the white of the paper is showing through.  It's time to start painting the phlox, blueberries and the other flowers.  

Picture #3 shows some of the foliage starting to take shape.  There is still more detail on leaves, etc. and also much more work to do near the top of the rocks.  I'm still wondering what to do with this area, so hopefully the inspiration will come before too long, so the painting can get completed.  The next two days will be very busy for me, so be patient; I will be back with more daily painting to come.  

Thank you for checking on the blog.  I hope you are inspired and may your days be filled with sunshine and creativity!  As always, I would love to hear your comments.