Colorado, Days 3 and 4

"Fishing the Rio Grande"
29" x 15" Watercolor

On our third day at the ranch, Steve arranged for the Chris, the ranch hand in charge of fishing, to do some casting at the Rio Grande that runs through the ranch near the entrance. We would make quick sketches and take photos. Rain was forecasted shortly, so we were planning to return to the workshop building.

It was a cold morning and very overcast so not much detail was seen in the distance.  Chris chose a spot where he knew he could catch fish and within seconds, pulled out a large one. We admired the fish and then he was returned to freedom. Chris then moved downstream where Steven wanted him to "pose" backed by gorgeous scenery.  He quickly caught three more fish. Steven demoed how he would capture the moistness of the morning and we returned to our work space. After lunch Steve braved the rain and painted outside the building looking across the narrow value, capturing a scene of an outbuilding with a white roof. He managed to finish the painting with minimum raindrops included. I watched briefly, but was too uncomfortable and returned to my painting.

That evening we carpooled to the town of Creede to visit Steve's gallery and to tour the amazing mural he painted for the local theater. We started getting snow and were told it was about a month early. The next morning we awakened to a beautiful dusting of snow on the valley and some with staying power on the high peaks.

Thursday morning we all bravely lined up behind Allie and headed up the now mushy, muddy ranch road toward the hills in the above photo. Steve had positioned himself to paint the old Miner's cabin. By the time we started our own work, Steve was standing in a puddle of water and mud from the warming temperatures. He showed us how to prime the paper with white gouache on the top portion to achive the misty effect.

Steven's demo painting

Jeanne and I painted a similar scene from a different perspective and it's one I would like to redo, so stay tuned. Tiring of my poor attempt, I turned to the mountains and painted the scene I showed on my first Colorado post. I used Steve's technique of priming with white gouache to create the sky. I was happy to have Steve tell me to stop and soften a few edges and call it done. He liked the mood I captured with little detail.