So at the Sunset Motel in Cache Creek I was up quite early. Had time to have a coffee at the Junction Coffeehouse across the street. Lo and behold I noticed a few paintings on the walls in the coffee shop. It's the same no matter where you are, local artists have paintings for sale in local venues. And, hey, the coffee was really good!
I found this hat at a gas station just outside of Kamloops. I had to have it! Firstly, because I painted a Moai early in my painting journey. Second, I really would love to go to Easter Island one day. Thirdly, I hoped that the hat would work to protect me from the sun while painting outside, since I did not find an appropriate umbrella. The hat is ridiculously huge on me, but I guess that is the point!
Choosing a location
It took a lot of driving to find a location on the highway to stop. Finally, on highway 5 in the Thompson Nicola Regional District I spotted a larger rest area along the river. There was lots of room to park without worrying about passing traffic. A nice flat rock just the right height to sit on. Large rocks in the foreground, the river and trees in the midground, the mountains in the background.
I decided to use a bigger canvas board. 11 x 14. I did coat the canvas board with 2 layers of gesso before leaving home. It could have used another coat. The paint was drying much faster out in the sun away from the ocean humidity. Using a larger surface made sense to me, though, because I wanted to capture a lot of subject matter.
In this case I started with the trees and shore. The foreground rocks and the water came next. The water color was hard to replicate. I will need to work on it, still...
A family stopped at the same rest stop because the kids wanted to dip their feet in the water. I thought it would be distracting, but it was not. They asked a few questions and then I found out that they were from Onoway, a town in Alberta not so far from Legal! Coincidences, hey?
