Thursday AM - an interesting start of the day

On this day we headed up to the Carson Pass (very high - 8,650 feet) to a lovely spot where juniper trees similar to the old Bristlecone Pines grow.  As we were hiking and looking for spots to paint there was some activity in our parking lot.  A helicopter was picking up canisters to take to the mountain tops for avalanche control.  With that much noise and dust blowing, we decided to move down to a lower parking lot with a view of Red Lake.

Hiking around at this elevation did slow down many of us.  I live at 5,000 feet and I was so tired hiking around for a place to paint, that I (and most of us) decided to paint right beside our cars.  My view of Red Lake was obscured by trees.  I also wasn't in the mood for painting a lake, so I "dried up the lake" and made it a meadow, and I eliminated the trees in front.  Here is my underpainting.  My tip for the day while painting it was to not get too fussy and loosen up in the watercolor underpainting. 

This painting was a struggle and I got myself into a dead-end and didn't know how to get myself out of it.  So it was interesting to see how Richard bailed my painting out a bit with his additions.  I have photos of the location and will try again at home with the suggestions I was given.  I might even put the lake back in!