A trip to Whistler, B.C.

We recently had one fun trip this summer with dear friends to Whistler, B.C. in Canada. I took along my painting gear of course! We have been there several times before and it is one of our favorite places to go hang out with our friends. 
We have usually stayed in Whistler during the late summer months. This is the first time we have been there in early fall. The leaves are changing color on the trees and the cool mornings and evenings with warm afternoons it just about perfect. The crowds aren't too bad either, considering.

Mornings find the four of us doing our own thing. The guys tended to go off to coffee shops to do a bit of journal writing. One friend likes to do her morning reading and meditation, and I, well I head out to paint of course!

We gather at lunch and then head out together on various activities such as hiking, biking, or taking in the new Squamish Lil'wat cultural centre.

Due to various reasons, my mate and I were not able to stay as long as we had hoped, however, I was able to get out two mornings to paint. I could easily spend a few weeks painting there!

The first morning I spent more time than I had wanted to hiking around with my paint pack trying to find a spot I had in mind. The last time we were in Whistler was before the winter Olympics were held there and things have changed a bit.

I finally found a spot that fit what I had in mind along Fitzsimmons Creek. Here is a picture of the spot and the painting:

I haven't really done any painting of a river or creek before and I found the rapids a bit challenging. Much different than the ocean waves I am accustomed to. I love the color of the water in this area. Much of it is glacier run off and has that characteristic milky turquoise quality to it.

The next morning I had to take a break. It has been such a busy summer and the need to rest a bit more is starting to catch up with us. The final morning ( I know sad isn't it?) I hiked out to a spot on Lost Lake. I had scoped it out the afternoon before. I arrived nice and early and didn't account for one fairly important thing. I was facing due east. As soon as the sun climbed up over the impressive mountains, I was blinded. I had to wait for about a half an hour before I could see anything such as color and detail. Eventually, the beauty I was hoping to capture popped out as the sun climbed higher. I think the light would have been better for what I had in mind in the afternoon but I had to take what I could get.  Here is the spot and the painting:

The first picture of Lost Lake shows the light when I was finishing up. It was much warmer than the earlier light when most of the forested mountains were in shadow. I was painting the cool morning light when the colors looked very different. On this painting, I feel that I did not quite get the correct value of the foreground water. It needs to be darker. I admit that I was torn between trying to capture the deep reflections and the lovely glacier water color and I think it shows. I really need to go back and do several paintings at that spot, not to mention all the other spots I missed.

I thoroughly enjoyed not only painting the change of scenery, but painting in this beautiful area of Canada.

-Renee