Deb and Greg's Alaska Ski Adventure
An Adventure Becomes a Painting
"“We so appreciate Leslie’s willingness to help meet our vision for the painting. Every time I walk into that room now I’m flooded with good memories of our commaradorie through years of adventures that are brought to life by Leslie’s painting.” – Deb Crowell, Salida
My friends Deb Crowell and Greg Mears love a good adventure. Over the years they've had some amazing ski trips, including the ultimate: bush plane skiing in Alaska.
I've heard that the best skiing in Alaska is accessed by bush plane - where pilots ferry skiers to glaciers that are unreachable by car. Their friend Bill, a pilot for United, moved to Alaska and got a plane of his own and the adventures just got better.
Deb, a former ski patroller at Vail, has documented many of their adventures. Skilled as a photographer and videographer, Deb has created videos of their experiences. She showed me this material to commission a painting to commemorate their ski trips in Alaska.
Our plan was to create a sizable painting for Deb and Greg's study where the mindset is always about the mountains. "It's the room where we plan and pack for our adventures," said Deb.
She wanted a colorful painting that would include Bill's plane with the four friends hiking up and their ski tracks visible in the snow.
Pencil sketch and color study
The Process
Step 1: Together we determined the right size for the painting in the room, then I added a sketch of the concept at scale.
Step 2: Next I created a small painting to work out a color version. I do this for all my commissions as a way to show the client where I'm headed. My plan was to bring that emotional component to the painting to match the thrill of the experience.
The Designer
Step 3: I was ready to start the full-size painting. I made adjustments with some educated guesswork as to how the light would work in the scene. The mountain range became more dramatic and I was able to add long shadows from the skiers flowing off to the right, which added to the sense of awe and excitement. It was a new detail Deb loved.
Deb and Greg are thrilled with their new office painting. "We so appreciate Leslie's willingness to help meet our vision for the painting," Deb said, "Every time I walk into that room now I'm flooded with good memories of our commaradorie through years of adventures that are brought to life by Leslie's painting."
It's a memory worth commemorating, for sure.
