WIP "Mosquito Lake" Oil Painting

oil on canvas 12X16

reference photo

Mosquito Lake is a beautiful lake up in Northern California on the way to Lake Tahoe.  The lake is on Ebbetts Pass in the Sierra Nevadas at about 10,000 ft. elevation (Alpine County). It is one of our favorite day trip destinations.  It seems that every time we go there, the water is perfectly still and makes for perfect photos!  I have been meaning to paint this for months and finally got to it.  I am working on it in my painting class and should be done with it this week.  I have to add some more details and glaze in some more darks at the shoreline, but it is almost finished.  When it is completed, I will post some photos of the start-to-finish progress.

Day Trippin'

It has been so hot lately and staying inside with the A/C is good, but sometimes we just want to be outside (without roasting, of course). Our answer- DAY TRIP! The question is always "coast, or mountains?". This time, mountains won and it was a good choice. My husband will drive all day, and love it, so it doesn't matter how far we go. The more curves in the road, the better -and the Sierras have lots of winding curves. We don't always have a destination in mind, but that is sometimes the best way to go!

We ended up going to Mosquito Lake in the Northern Sierras. We have been there before and it is a great spot for a snack and a glass of wine. Most important to me is the fact that it is a perfect photo op for future painting material. It seems that the lake is always smooth and glassy, and the perfectly mirrored reflection is definitely a painting waiting to happen. This is only a few hours from our house, and we traded in sweltering 100's - for 70's. The elevation is 8,040 feet and we even saw lots of patches of snow still hanging in there.

Anyway, fun drive (top down most of the time-tiny bit of rain), cool temperatures, and awesomely beautiful reference photos for painting. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday!

Thanks for looking!

Sheryl