What the hell is a “flatiron” you ask? The really boring definition is from geomorphology, which I won’t repeat here, but the layperson’s description is “cool looking red and orange rocks pointing out of the ground at extreme angles.”
This was a plein air outing just south of Boulder, Colorado, in an area called Eldorado Canyon, at the South Mesa Trailhead to be specific. I was fortunate to spend this painting session with my mom, who had picked the location because of the great views of the Flatirons. I love seeing the Flatirons from this vantage point because you can see Devil’s Thumb very clearly and easily appreciate the jagged topography.
The location is also unique because if you turn around and look east, one can see a mere 5 -10 miles away the largest superfund site the in US history, Rocky Flats. As far as I could tell, the Flatirons weren’t glowing from the plutonium trigger waste, but I’m glad the wind was blowing in the other direction today. This may seem like a very weird mash of nature in one direction and nuclear waste in the other, but Colorado is a state full of contrasts – politically, environmentally, and geographically. As artists, though, it’s great because we all know stark contrasts make for good compositions.
I spent about 2-3 hours in the field working on this composition. I had never painted the Flatirons before, and not much by way of mountain landscapes either, so this was a challenge. Being on-site was definitely a plus in terms of capturing the essence of the Flatirons and helped shape the decision to use a palette knife and some impasto to shape the rock faces. It was also a little easier for me to get a sense of what I was looking at because decades earlier I had learned to rock climb on these very mountains! In fact, my first “real” rappel was from the top of Devil’s Thumb.
The final few hours of work was done in the studio back in Austin. In truth I had some fundamental trouble getting the depth right, namely the whole thing looked very flat, so I set it aside for a few weeks and returned with a fresh perspective. Turns out the greens were too similar throughout the piece, and the darker values in the middle ground weren’t cool enough. I think the final adjustments, especially the cooler greens in the middle ground and horizon proved to be a vast improvement.
If you’re in the Denver / Boulder area, I highly recommend a visit to Eldorado Canyon. There are some great views (obviously), beautiful hikes, and you can also watch some of the craziest free climbers in the country scale the canyon walls.
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Art Bern 