Mountain to Sea Trail Color Pencil Drawings

Maura and I went hiking along the Mountain to Sea Trail near Sparta, NC. This is where the trail runs along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Easy access! Then we went to the Thistle Meadow Winery in Laurel Springs for a glass of wine! Wonderful day. 

These are fun patels in my sketchbook. More flat areas of color than my normal paintings. 

Blazing Fire

This is one of the paintings in my fire series: blazing fire.  It is an acrylic painting, 18 x 24.  I started with a black and white under painting, then layered or glazed the colors on top.  It is a combination of realistic and abstract.  The logs are realistic and the flames are abstract shapes.  The cast shadows on the logs and rocks came out very well.