Sierra Oil Painting – Rush Creek – June Lake Loop – Karen Winters – KWinters
“Rush Creek Overlook”
12 x 9 inches
Sierra Oil Painting
More Sierra Nevada paintings here
The June Lake loop (off highway 395, in California) has several areas where you can pull off the road and look down onto meandering streams. This viewpoint of Rush Creek (between Silver Lake and Grant Lake) was on a bright overcast day, and the hazy whitened sky made the stream look more white then blue. I liked the striking contrast with the straw colored marsh-meadow and the deep blue shaded mountainside in the distance. I used a very limited palette for this study – mostly ultramarine blue, yellow ochre and cadmium yellow light. A few tiny bits of burnt sienna and cad red added warm notes.
I have it on good authority that all those little nooks and crannies along the creek are filled with hungry rainbow and brown trout. Is it true? Fisherfolk, do tell!
Pat Everson
October 27, 2010
Karen, just when I think you are really good, you just get better. Love this one, the colors
are great composition wonderful. I am out here in The Rocky Mts of Colorado and have
been fighting these compositions with no sky, tough for a former seascape painter. But
when you are in the mountains scale and other things change. Congratulations on another
great little painting.
Karen
October 28, 2010
Thank you, Pat. Yes, looking-down compositions are a whole different challenge. It’s fun to try unusual angles sometimes, isn’t it?
Rita
October 28, 2010
This is striking Karen! My husband and I just passed the June Lake Loop coming home from the Bridgeport area a few weeks ago. It looks like another wonderful place to paint!
Marian Fortunati
October 29, 2010
You should have seen if Glen could catch some while you were painting.
Terry Banderas
October 31, 2010
Love this one. Nice color!!!!!!