This painting means a lot to me because the image that I chose to draw is the mountains at Purgatory Resort. Purgatory is the highlight of my childhood. I would spend summers there in kids camp as well as winters there in “Snow Burners”. Most of my life I can remember riding up the ski lift and looking at the huge mountains in front of me and all around me, feeling complete bliss. It's the most peaceful place on earth. Even in my recent years when I have been going through a hard time, I disappear to Purgatory and it's like everything's better with just one breath of fresh air and a good look around me.
The process of this painting was highly frustrating for me. Working with the coal was an experiment for all of us to say the least. A lot of times I had a hard time getting the coal to stick and go where I wanted it to without messing up other aspects of the painting. I feel that I also could have done a lot better on this painting. Watercolor is not a feature that I like about it. I think I could have added more texture to the background by using the watercolor better than I originally did. I also think I could have added a lot more coal than I did. Personally I struggled with getting the detail that I needed while using the coal. Overall this painting is good and is something that I am proud of but I could add things to it to make it even better.