Oh my gosh... I told Geri how much I like her rock paintings, so she took us to a small creek right in front of the medical center... a new place I had not discovered before. Nicely shaded, a few benches to sit on, and a creek overflowing with the melting snow run-off.
At first she demonstrated an ambitious view of the cascading water rushing over the granite rocks....
it was fabulous to watch her develop this... but we all felt overwhelmed, there was sooo much to translate to paper.
So, she moved downstream a few yards and focused on just a few rocks, with minimal water flow in the background. I took so many pictures in progress, here is one well into it. She used a toothbrush to splatter color on the larger rocks. Later she covers the rocks with layers and layers of translucent washes.
As you can see here, while the painting is not done, she has magically translated the life, light, magnificence of these simple boulders!
I had to boogie home before the class was finished for the day. Sadly, I haven't seen the finished painting. She's still in Yosemite, teaching through the end of the week. Hopefully she will post this picture on her website in the future! I just FELL IN LOVE with her technique! I spent the whole class time just focusing on her step by step development and didn't paint myself. But I fully intend to get one started asap!
