The Portals
I joined scientist Mauri Pelto on Mt. Baker in August of 2007 to monitor a number of glaciers. We were traversing from the Sholes Glacier to the Rainbow and paused for lunch in the Portals Pass. I sketched and noticed the strong shapes and shadows.
![070806_portals At the Portels](https://expeditionaryart.com/app/uploads/2008/10/070806_portals.jpg)
This year as I’m processing my North Cascades fieldwork, I began exploring the composition, looking at my sketch and photos as well. I did a small study of the Portals and liked the overall composition. It took me right back to sitting on the rocks sketching.
![s080825_mountainstudy Portels Study, 7" x 5"](https://expeditionaryart.com/app/uploads/2008/10/s080825_mountainstudy-500x332.jpg)
I decided to scale it up to a larger 23″ x 17″ watercolor on Arches coldpress paper. This is the first layer of paint. After a light sketch with 2H pencil, I painted the sky with a mix of cobalt blue, french ultramarine, and cerulean blue as well as some quinacridone rose and yellow ochre for the warms. Once that dried, I blocked in the large shapes of the rocks with yellow ochre and quinacridone burnt orange.
![portals1 First Layer](https://expeditionaryart.com/app/uploads/2008/10/portals1-500x369.jpg)
WIth this second layer, I added texture and form to the rocks, working with lunar earth paint mixed with some cool blues. I also highlighted the snow in the background yellow against the cloud and added some crevasses.
![portals2 Second Layer](https://expeditionaryart.com/app/uploads/2008/10/portals2-500x369.jpg)
This is the final finished piece after I added the darks with blues and purples.
![portals3 Final painting](https://expeditionaryart.com/app/uploads/2008/10/portals3-500x366.jpg)
![mcm_northcascadesiii Sketching at the Portels, Mt. Baker, August 2007 (photo credit Tom Hammond)](https://expeditionaryart.com/app/uploads/2008/10/mcm_northcascadesiii-500x666.jpg)
One Response to “The Portals”
Terry Lash
Wow! You look so warm and comfy, barefeet and all! What an exciting painting.