An Adventure Becomes a Painting

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.

Greg currently works in sales for Ortovox, a premiere outdoor clothing and gear manufacturer. One year Greg and Deb attended an industry event in Colorado called “Corn Camp.” At this confluence of outdoor recreation and commaraderie, they met fellow skiers Bill and Heather and the four became fast friends.

Later Heather and Bill moved to 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. Bill, a pilot for United, eventually 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.

I loved seeing her photos and videos about these incredible experiences. I didn’t realize that in Alaska, the chances of a bluebird day are pretty slim and there were several times these friends weren’t able to ski due to poor weather conditions. They were tenacious and when they finally got a clear day to ski, the event was even more memorable.

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.

[Above: my pencil sketch and a color study to test the composition and colors in the room before starting the painting.]

Here’s how my process works.

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.

Deb liked the painting but wanted even more color. Inspired by another painting I had created before, she suggested keeping the magenta and orange tones at the bottom, while adding a dramatic light to the sky. I wasn’t sure it would work…I thought it might be too much color, even for me!

Keeping an open mind, I adjusted the small painting and after looking at it I had to admit it was working! Deb and Greg signed off on the draft enthusiastically. It was co-creation at its best.

Step 3: I was ready to start the full-size painting. A new challenge was soon presented, when I noticed that the new dramatic lighting in the sky would create a completely different light source than in the original reference photo. Even though I wasn’t creating a photo-realistic painting, I wanted the light to be somewhat believable.

I made adjustments with some educated guesswork as to how the light would work in the scene. In the source photo, the mountain range and glacier are bathed in bright light that comes from the right, but moving the light behind that range meant the light was coming from the left. So I adjusted the light and shadows accordingly. With this new approach, 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.

If you’d like to discuss a painting to commemorate your adventure, contact me today.