Thursday, August 29, 2013

Victor Celebrates The Arts


I am in Victor, Colorado (about an hour and 15 minutes from Colorado Springs) participating in "Victor Celebrates The Arts" a 10 day plain air event.  Victor is an old mining town, actually, the gold mine is still active, that sits at 10,000 feet!  It's hard for some people to breathe at this altitude.

Anyway, at the end of the week artists can submit up to 5 pieces painted within a 10 mile area.  Three pieces are plain air, 1 is a miniature (up to 4" x 6") and 1 is an interior.  The scenery is spectacular, the mines are historic and the town is charming.

This is my first piece.  I started with sketching in the buildings, then quickly putting in the shadows.


I have 2 plein air easels and set ups.  My old Julienne which I use on car trips (how great is it to paint right next to my car!!)  and an 8" x 10" Open Box M which I use if I'm hiking in to a location and when we travel by plane.


My next step was to quickly put in the shadows in the trees in the background, the sun is always changing outdoors.  Then I put the lights in the first house.


Next I put the lights in the 2nd house and painted part of the shadow sides of the houses.



Then, I worked on the grasses in the front of the houses.  Lastly I painted the trees in the back ground.  I'll post the final painting later int he week.

The following pictures are taken around Victor:






6 comments:

hmuxo said...

Beautiful painting!!!! Sounds like a very interesting town, Pam.!!!

Debbi Smith Rourke said...

Fabulous. Looks like so much fun. Enjoy. Nice work.

Nancy B. Hartley said...

Love your step by step photos, and description. Sounds like a fun trip!

Unknown said...

Hi Pam, I'm enjoying your explanation and photos of your painting in progress. Love the confident bold pink on the sides of the buildings. Did you exercise a little artistic license in placing and selecting which buildings you wanted to include? I was trying to figure that out. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished painting. If your objective was to keep us waiting anxiously on edge, well then you succeeded. I also googled Victor, Co. You aren't kidding the altitude is high. The google earth satellite image shows a lot of white nearby......big time snow...wow. I'll be looking forward to your next blog which I hope includes the finished painting. Pattie

Unknown said...

Hi Pam, I'm enjoying your explanation and photos of your painting in progress. Love the confident bold pink on the sides of the buildings. Did you exercise a little artistic license in placing and selecting which buildings you wanted to include? I was trying to figure that out. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished painting. If your objective was to keep us waiting anxiously on edge, well then you succeeded. I also googled Victor, Co. You aren't kidding the altitude is high. The google earth satellite image shows a lot of white nearby......big time snow...wow. I'll be looking forward to your next blog which I hope includes the finished painting. Pattie

Pam Holnback said...

Hilda, Thank you so much! It is really a cool town!! So historic.

Thank you Debbi. I am enjoying minute!

Nancy, Thanks so much. I'll post more soon.

Thank you Pattie. The big time white nearby is the Gold Mine...that's all the tailings.