The weather on Thursday was crazy good - 68 degrees, no wind, blue sky! I painted this 9 x 12 pastel over watercolor (on UART 400) in a couple of hours. I knew the mid ground was too detailed, too dark and not blue enough because I couldn't make the foreground 'pop'. I had captured enough information though that I knew I could do a good studio painting with this small work plus the photos I had taken.
A week later I laid in the watercolor under painting for my 18" x 24" studio piece.
I was painting on 140# cold pressed Arches paper. Unlike watercolor on UART sanded paper, the watercolor paint on paper can be quite strong and vibrant.
About 20% of the pastel has been laid in here; I was determined to get the mid ground soft and blue so the foreground would jump forward. After a while I took out the small plein air study and noticed that I had originally seen the rocks of the mountains as grey, not blue as the reference photos showed them; so I reworked that distant area to simplify and neutralize it.
Here is the final painting. I like it and feel it captures the spectacular view on that beautiful day.
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