"New
Zealand Mountains" - oil on canvas. This was
painting #2 ever. The scene is from a National
Geographic photo which I liked. I gridded the photo (and
the canvas) and simply reproduced it as accurately as
I could (except cropping the right-hand 20%). I guess
I violated all painting advice by not working the
whole painting and gradually getting to the details.
I literally just worked my way around finishing
pieces at a time. I still like it though - the photo
does not capture the sky color well but I love the
slight trace of turquoise in it. I also like the way
the valley to the left really looks like a very cold
place in the shade. The foreground blue area is
curious since I've never really seen anything like it
except in the original photo, but I suppose it's an
ice field.