Painting The View From The Rim of the World Highway Painting
Do you appreciate Southern California-themed artwork? The Rim of the World Highway is one of the most beautiful drives in California, and I have taken many pictures of the view from this scenic route. Growing up I just wanted to get away from the mountains, but as an adult, I have come to have a special affinity for the San Bernardino Mountains in my artwork and photography. I no longer live in the Lake Arrowhead vicinity, but I go back up there often and take pictures during my visits with family. The view is quite an awe inspiring from the Rim of the World Highway, and I decided to use one of my favorite photographs of the vista of the San Gorgonio Mountains as the inspiration for my oil painting. I also wanted to capture this image because it includes the iconic rock formation near Rim High School, which many people are familiar with if they drive up and down Highway 18. So take a gander at the photo gallery and videos to see how my painting of the view from the Rim of the World Highway came to life.
This is a photograph I took from a turn out on the Rim of the World Highway, which inspired my painting.
Here I am sketching out a very light outline of the view from the Rim of the World Highway.
Out in my container garden patio I continued adding details to the outline sketch for my painting. This sketch will serve as a road map for my painting.
This is an enhanced photograph of the outline sketch I created for my painting, so you can see more of the detail.
This video shows the outline sketch in detail.
In the photograph above I have painted the view of Mount San Gorgonio and the sky.
In the photograph above I have painted in the area around the rock formation in the turn out on the Rim of the World Highway. Now I have painted the mountains that are in foreground of the San Gorgonio Mountain. As you can see we are looking down from the Rim of the World Highway to mountains that are lower than the mile high point where we are in the turnout point. Looking down on the canyon next to this rock formation is quite an amazing sight.
The video below shows what the painted background looked like after the oil paint was added, and how the rock formation began to stand out a bit more.
In this phase of the painting I am using my oil paints to fill in the iconic rock formation that can be seen from a turn out near Rim High School on the Rim of the World Highway. The colors I used for painting the rocks are slightly different than the actually colors in the photograph I took, but I wanted to have a bit of fun with this painting.
The video above illustrates what the boulders look like now that I have painted these in with reddish hues. Yes, the rocks in the painting are a bit more red and bold than the actual rocks in the photograph, but I used artistic license to make this painting original, and to express my mood at the moment. I enjoy oil painting with bold and vibrant colors, and this gives me a sense of serenity and joy.
Above is a photo I took of my painting that I finished on a Sunday night.
Here is the video I took of my painting when I finished it last Sunday night.
This photo shows what my painting looks like during the daytime with natural light. I quite like how I used the speckled white painting to achieve the look of snow on Mount San Gorgonio.
The video above shows the Rim of the World Highway view painting in daylight, it is nice to see how the different hues of paint look like slightly different colors in the daytime sun.