Painted from a plein air field study, Elk River near Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
I almost passed this scene up. After a long and successful plein air excursion, I was on my way home. I passed this scene but didn't stop. I had thought to myself that I should stop, but I was exhausted and had a 3 1/2 hour drive ahead of me, over mountain roads at night. About a couple miles down the road, though, I decided to turn around. I did a quick plein air sketch to capture the color and value relationships before all light was gone.
In the studio, I developed the painting to capture the spirit of the scene.
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