Longs Peak Prominence

Painted en plein in at Estes Park, Colorado, I painted Long's Peak because of its unforgettable prominence seen from the entire valley. Because of the Rocky Mountain ever changing weather systems this peak never looks the same. This was captured on a sunny summer morning with the blue skies. The ridgeline of Longs peak looks different from all angles of the Rocky mountain park and Estes. This view was from the south and showed the face of it, which has a climbing route on it called the "Diamond". My son is an experiences climber and mountaineer and has climbed that face. So naturally I wanted to paint it. It was a great joy to spend so much time studying the shapes, ridges, and faces as a painter and as a climber. (I sometimes climb with my son). The shapes of the shadows and the massive tree line were lead-ins for the composition as the cool colors and blue/green, red purple and orange/red tertiary palette helped me keep a harmony that I found evident with the cool morning light in this painting.