I'm so psyched that Freddie's book was reviewed on NPR this morning!  If you pick up a copy, check out the illustrated maps I did on the inside.  The book was published earlier this summer and if you want to go to a book signing (make sure you ask for Freddie's famous velociraptor impersonation) the full schedule is on his website .

In the early morning hours of August 1st, 2008, more than three dozenmen readied in the starry darkness for their final ascent to the summitof K2, the world’s second highest mountain.  In little more than 24hours, 11 climbers would be dead. News of the K2 catastrophe rocketedthrough the international media. The annals of high altitudemountaineering are filled with stories of storm and slaughter – but thistragedy occurred in perfect weather, under bright, windless skies. Whathappened?  How had the mountain killed so many, so quickly?

The insider’s account of what really happened on K2 is many things: adark portrayal of the hubris, racial tensions and ethical ambiguitiesthat threaten to consume modern mountaineering, and a honest portrait ofhow heroism can transcend those divisions. It is not only a tale ofhigh-stakes mountain adventure, but also a chronicle of the grief andanguish experienced by the families of lost climbers, the guilt thathaunts those who survive, and society’s macabre attraction to tragedyand how it can subvert the truth. Authored by alpinist and veteranclimbing writer Freddie Wilkinson, One Mountain Thousand Summitsis a thought-provoking study of modern morality told at the break-neckpace of an action thriller, and an urgent work of investigativenon-fiction.

"Let [the artist] scrupulously accept whatever [nature] presents him until he shall, in a degree, have become intimate with her infinity...never let him profane her sacredness by a willful departure from truth." -- from Asher B. Durand's 1855 Letters on Landscape Painting

OK here are the studies I did at HRF2010.  We had an amazing month of intense painting, learning, and fun times.  This was my second year at the fellowship and I felt a little more prepared than I did last year.  We put in huge days, taking advantage of the long daylight hours.  On this trip, I didn't choose a specific scene to focus on and gather studies for.  Instead, my goal was just to learn more about painting foreground objects and learn from the other artists I was with.  It's an amazing opportunity to work among a group of artists who have so much talent and I tried to absorb as much knowledge as I could.  I was able to keep the GCA blog running with photos and updates about what we were doing, so check it out if you're interested in that kind of thing.  You can see some of the other artist's work there as well.  This is my one day to get online and return emails before I dissappear into the wilderness for another month and I'm running out of patience, so when I get back I hope I'll have time to write more about how AWESOME landscape painting is and how crazy I am about it ... meanwhile ... I'm going back outside to paint some more!  YEAH!


Bark Study, oil on canvas, 6 3/4"x9"


grass study, 6"x9", oil on canvas


Roots embracing rocks in Kaaterskill Clove, graphite on paper, 9"x12"


Roots study, graphite on paper, 9"x12"


maple tree tops, graphite on paper, 9"x10"


Maple tree trunks, graphite on paper, 8'x16"


Bark & Ground study, oil on linen, 7"x9"


rainy day birch bark, 6"x9"


Bark for Bark's Sake, oil on canvas, 7"x9"


mini bark study, oil on canvas 4"x4.5"


Cloud study, oil on canvas9"x6"


Rain storm passing at sunset overlooking the Hudson River Valley, oil on canvas 8"x6"


Sunset #1, oil on canvas 8"x6"


sunset #2, oil on canvas, 9"x6"

sunset #3, oil on canvas, 7"x5"


sunset #4, oil on canvas, 7"x3.5"

sunset #5, oil on canvas7"x4.5"


sunset #6, oil on canvas, 7"x3"

sunset #7, oil on canvas, 7"x4.5"


mossy rock in Platte Clove, oil on canvas, 9"x7"


Rocks study, oil on canvas, 9"x6"


Tree Down in Kaaterskill Clove, graphite on paper, 12"x9"


Color & value study of early morning in Kaaterskill Clove (goes with above drawing) 9"x6"


Here I am painting with Travis Schlaht and Edward Minoff


working under encouraging trail side signs


Learning from Jacob Collins


The Fellows!  I miss you already.

Here are a few of the studies I did while out in California visiting family on the Sonoma coast.  My intention with these was to gather very specific detailed information about the scene so that I can use them in the studio to create larger paintings.  I've been learning this approach to landscape painting with my teachers at GCA and through the Hudson River Fellowship and I can't believe how much I am loving it!  At some point I want to sit down and write more about my thoughts and inspiration behind this work but I've been so immersed in my studies outside that I haven't been able to get online more than once a month all summer.  At times I feel more like a scientist than an artist with this mission to strictly copy nature ... but I can see how this stage of the process leads to more artistic freedom in the long run.  These particular studies will probably be part of a longer term project over the next few years, I would like to visit the spot one more time next summer to get enough information to attempt a large scale painting.  Meanwhile, I feel like I'm making big strides in the learning process. 

"There can be no dissent from the maxim, that a knowledge of integral parts is essential for the construction of a whole - that the alphabet must be understood before learning to spell, and the meaning of words before being able to read"  --From Asher B. Durand's 1855 Letters on Landscape Painting


Ocean view, study of middle valley tree line, graphite on paper, 14"x6"


Ocean view, study of farthest hill forms, graphite on paper, 12"x9"


Northwest view, study of tree lines, graphite on paper, 12"x9"


Tree study, graphite on paper, 12"x9"


Live Oak trunk study, graphite on paper 12"x14"


close to sunset, ocean view, oil on canvas, 9"x7"


northwest view, sunset, oil on canvas, 8"x4.5"


ocean view color study, oil on canvas, 12"x8"


Live Oak Grove, oil on canvas, 8"x9"

Northwest view with oak grove, oil on canvas, 10"x8"

If you've tried to email me recently and gotten the automatic out-of-office-reply, here's where I've been.  So amazing to be away from the internet and working outside all day long!  I'm trying hard out here, hopefully I'll get some studies worthy of sharing on the blog by the end of the month.

Well, this is as far as I got before school ended last friday.  I hope I get a chance to pick up where I left off in the fall, if the lights haven't been changed too much.  I'll finish modeling the parts in the light and spend some more time working in the shadows, also going back to fix little tidbits here & there.  For the most part, I try to completely finish a section before moving on. 

more updates coming soon as the summer landscape painting season gets under way!  so #@$*#*&^@#$%$%  PSYCHED!!!!!!

My portrait of Lucy just won 3rd place in the animal category of the 2009/2010 Art Renewal Center Salon Awards . 

graphite on paper, 4 hours each morning


my next cast painting victim


Ready to start slapping some muscles on this guy next week




the view from school today

This is how Lucy's afternoons at GCA are spent


working at home on weekends with the team