Painting Creekside In Spearfish
Summer Vibes 2024
After completing my mini series, Camping in Spearfish, South Dakota, I decided that I wanted to continue with the experiment of painting the same reference photo more than once. I chose another reference photo from a climbing trip to Spearfish, South Dakota. The photo was another rather unremarkable picture from the trip. To get to a particular climbing spot, you parked on the side of the road in a dirt pull off and the only thing that would give an indication of climbing in the area was a wooden plank to cross the water on the side of the road. I took this picture standing on the bridge. What I loved about the scene was the brightness of the grass against the pine trees and the peacefulness of the spot. For this series I wanted to play with scale and to play with painting wet on wet instead of trying to capture perfect details.
Creekside in Spearfish No. 1
3 x 4.5 inches
Painting a mini was a way to get over starting a new project and a new subject. My goal with this painting was to paint quickly and see what I could capture in a short period of time. I only spent about twenty minutes on this painting. My favorite part of this painting is how the horizon line seems to fade into the background. There are a couple detailed trees, but for the most part, I painted wet on wet and allowed the first background layer to stay. What I am not entirely happy about are the colors. Overall, the painting is a bit too light in color.
Creekside in Spearfish Bookmarks
2 x 6 inches
A different twist on my creekside reference photo. I decided to see how I could break the reference photo across two paintings and decided to make a pair of bookmarks. Again I tried to paint wet on wet and to leave some of the texture caused by the watercolor blooms. I’m quite pleased with how the pine trees came out in the background of these bookmarks. I changed the colors significantly with these paintings compared to the first mini. I aimed for a twilight painting and chose to use a combination of purples, pinks, and oranges for the sky. As a result I wanted the pine trees and the water to be darker in color. My favorite part of these are the little pops of color from the flowers. I think each bookmark is fun on its own, but they look great as a pair as well.
Have you heard? I'm giving away one of my summer vibes paintings to a newsletter subscriber. All you need to do is be on the list. Announcement is 9/22/2024.
Creekside in Spearfish No. 2
4.5 x 6.5 inches
For my next version of Creekside in Spearfish, South Dakota, I wanted to paint a little bit larger and I wanted to focus on more texture and details in the painting. I returned to painting a daylight scene. I started the painting wet on wet with the sky, the background layer of trees, and the water. For the details, I wanted there to be a combination of vertical and horizontal lines and pops of colors for the flowers since I enjoyed that aspect of the previous painting so much.
I think my favorite parts of this painting are:
The yellow flowers that are against the trees on the left.
The dark tones of the creek.
The grass on the right side. I love the texture and all of the different brush strokes
AND, this is the first painting where I prepped the paper in advance with a deckled edge.
Creekside in Spearfish No. 3
5.5 x 7 inches
When I completed this painting, I thought it was my least favorite of the bunch, but I think the wonkiness is growing on me. I wanted to focus less on details and to avoid covering up the colors and textures created from the initial wet on wet layers. I think I am conflicted about this painting because the lack of details makes it feel unfinished, but I also find myself enjoying the unusual textures. If you look at this painting for a while, there are so many interesting unplanned details:
The watercolor blooms in the layer of pine trees.
How the horizon line of the painting where the grasses meet the trees seem to blend into each other.
The bright pops of colors from the flowers.
To me this painting has an ethereal quality that keeps me looking at it even after I initially thought it was the worst of the lot.
Which is your favorite? Tell me below!
Learn more about this year’s Summer Vibes project in these blog posts:
Also, have you heard? I’m giving away one of my 2024 Summer Vibes paintings to a newsletter subscriber. Announcement is the first day of fall: September 22, 2024.