The Riddle

I started this painting right when covid started. I was still very new back in the game of painting and it was the biggest piece I was attempting at that time. I wanted to try my hand at a “big, epic landscape.”  The reference photo fit the bill and was sentimental because it came from our first ever mountaineering trip.

A different picture from the trip - crossing the Bow Glacier to Peyto Glacier with St. Nicholas peek right behind.

On this trip we had two sunny days – entry and exit. We had 4 very long total white out days in between. This painting depicts a day we summitted Mount Habel, also in a white out. We were all so bored of staying close to the hut, practicing navigating in a white out and rope techniques.  

 To start this painting, I bought an oversized canvas to emphasize the sky. Being in a snowstorm on a mountain makes you feel a sense of grandeur, even as the sky seems close in on you. 

 When I started this painting, I had no brushes under a #4 at the time which is quite large for small figures. I’m guessing an experienced artist would have been fine, but I could only manage cartoonish renderings. 

 Then, I decided that I KNEW there were clouds (to make the snow, obviously) and I remembered seeing that the sky was darker and more ominous than the photo represented. And even though I couldn’t see them in the picture, I painted in clouds.  I tried to reference some stylized iterations of clouds, but they only added to the cartoony theme. 

 In a way, when combined, the cartoon people and the cartoon sky worked. Dan said it reminded him a of (bad) Kurelek (which is a great compliment!). It worked in a way that was suitable for a children’s story book, but it didn’t really say what I wanted it to say.

 So, I put it in the closet for a couple of years. I would catch glimpses of it occasionally and feel annoyed that it was still there, and still incomplete. Over that time, I acquired a few more skills, better intuition, and more appropriate brushes. I hauled out the painting, sanded parts of it down and started again.

I mean, obviously the clouds had to go. As soon as I painted in a simple gradated the sky, I felt a sense of relief. The simpler sky made more sense, and ironically it added to the sense of scale I was looking for to begin with. I also realized because of their intense value, the clouds were pulling attention away from the entire point of the painting, the rope teams and the challenges of the crevasses. 

With that settled, I made quick work for fixing the figures, and tightening up their proportions and colours. I was proud of myself for figuring out that some legs were too short compared to torsos. And having sub-0 sized brushes helped immensely.

 Overall, this was a wonderful experience. I’m happy I didn’t give up, or light it on fire. Instead, I gave myself a break, and listened to what the painting needed.