Hillside Passage - Original Oil Painting of Black Star Canyon - Country Road Painting

"Hillside Passage" | 16" x 16" | Oil on stretched canvas 

Available at www.KimVanDerHoek.com

©2013 by Kim VanDerHoek

This is the last one I still have available from the Laguna Plein Air Invitational.

I went to Black Star Canyon which is near my home to paint this one. It ended up being a very windy day and I had to bungie cord the bottom of the canvas to my easel to keep it from moving around too much. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to put a stroke on a certain area and having your brush land somewhere else entirely because the wind blew the canvas around.

Actually, I take that back. There is nothing more frustrating that having a bystander scare the pants off me while I'm painting.

So, I'm standing by the side of the road with my back to the other side of the wash you see in the painting. There is about 1 foot of land that separates my feet from the edge of the wash. I'm minding my own business, trying to get my paintbrush to land where I want it on the canvas when a mountain biker rides by. Now he doesn't just quietly ride past. Right before he enters my peripheral vision he yells at the top of his lungs, "Cheese!" I jump back nearly going right into the wash behind me. Normally, I'm pretty friendly and I'll say hello to curious onlookers but, this guy thoughtlessly scared the living daylights out of me so I had to give him a piece of my mind as he rode past. It makes me wonder if he really thought what he had to say was that funny or that I'd never heard that joke before and would react by doubling over in hysterical laughter. Oh well, next time I bet he thinks twice.