Tag Archives: Great Smoky Mountain National Park

Video

30 Seconds of Peace


Are you stressed out over Covid-19, the election, finances, family affairs, your job, all of the above or something entirely different? Turn your sound on, if it’s not on already, and take 30 seconds out of your day to view the following video of a mountain stream, taken by me mid-October on the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and just breathe.

Now don’t you feel better?

You’re welcome.

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

Serenity Break


Hello Everyone!

I’ve done quite a few things since my last post about my mom-in-law, whom I still miss greatly.  I plan to share some of those things with you as we go through the summer.

First on the list is this this 39 second video I took Saturday while on the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains.  Put everything out of your mind, and just breathe in and out while you watch this with the sound on for the next 39 seconds to feel refreshed and just a little more relaxed.

 

 

 

You’re welcome!

Have a great day!

Nancy

The Evolution of a Painting


Good morning everyone!

I finished my latest painting, a landscape watercolor, which is the first landscape painting I have ever done.  I took pictures of the painting throughout the process, so I thought you might like to see how the painting was done.

First, you must start out with an idea or a model of what you wish to paint.  This was my model.

The picture I chose as my model

Next, you take the surface you are painting (for watercolors, there is specially developed paper) and draw the main lines of the painting on there. Once the main lines are drawn, you start filling them in. Here, you can see where I have started to fill in the main set of mountains. If you look closely, you can also see the drawn lines for the meadow/valley below.

The Beginning of the Mountains

The next step was to add depth and color to the mountains. Getting the mountains right was probably the longest part of the process.

The Mountains

The next step was to fill in the meadow and other land in the foreground.

Foreground Filled In

A closer view:

A Closer View

Then it was time to start the detail work in the foreground. Here is the detail after my first session on working on it:

Part but not all of the detail

A close up of the detail close to the left side of the mountain:

Close up of the left side of the mountain meadow

The next painting session let me finish the details, and the painting.

The Finished Product

Here’s a closer look at the finished painting:

Close up of Finished Painting

And here is a look at the painting, and the picture that started it, side by side:

Comparison

The hardest part of painting watercolor is the need for patience – patience as you try to mix the colors in exactly the right, patience as you try to build up the right sets of color and patience to go back and try again if the colors don’t quite work the first time. I’m please with the final result though.

Have a great day!

Nancy