A Sketch a Day in Colorado

Whilst on vacation, I set a a personal goal to do one sketch each day. As it turns out, I successfully  carried my travel sketch kit with me on each of the 6 hikes we did on Colorado.  Here they are.

On our first day in Colorado we attended the Renaissance Fair in Larkspur.  The Fair was similar to the one in Tuxedo New York that we usually attend but the end battle/joust was much shorter.  I quickly drew this while sitting on the lawn waiting for the main even joust to start.  There was no preliminary melee and so I missed the entire joust while sketching.

                                                 Waiting for the Joust
                                        Watercolor and ink on paper 5.5x8.25

The hike to the top of Mount Herman was a little over a mile in distance (we stared toward the top) but took us from ~7700 ft in elevation to 9100 ft.  Between the elevation and the steep climb, I was hurting a bit after this one.  And this was not the toughest hike.  Literally two minutes after I finished this, and while I was still packing up, rain clouds swooped in and obscured the view of these mountains.
 

                                          The View from Mount Herman
                                        Watercolor and ink on paper 5.5x8.25

The Garden of the Gods was by the far the easiest of the hikes and perhaps the most inspiring.  We took tons of photos that may one day find themselves the subjects of their own paintings.  I painted this sitting on the sunbathed observation deck of the visitor's center and may be my favorite sketch of the trip.  Cathedral Rock, or Grey Rock, is one of the first rock formation you see when entering the park.
 

                                         Cathedral Rock, Garden of the Gods
                                        Watercolor and ink on paper 5.5x8.25

I rushed this one a bit and it shows but the biting flies were. . .well. . .biting.  I do like how the water preceding the little waterfalls came out.  That said, everything about Estes Park was just amazing and beautiful.  I think my next vacation to Colorado needs to include many more days exploring this park (and hopefully next time I will get to see an Elk in the road).

                                          The Pool at the Big Thompson River
                                        Watercolor and ink on paper 5.5x8.25

 Horsetooth Mountain was supposed to be a "moderately" difficult hike.  Yeah, right.  We called it 10k the hard way (3.1 miles to the top) and this one kicked my @$$!  This hike included rock hewn stairs, scrambling and steep grades. . .but man, was the view worth it.  I chose to paint the western view instead of the eastern view that included the city of Ft Collins.  I just did not want to paint any buildings on this trip.

                             Western View from the top of Horsetooth Mountain
                                        Watercolor and ink on paper 5.5x8.25

The final hike and sketch was from Seven Falls, a truly beautiful sight of seven cascading waterfalls.  Instead of painting the falls themselves, I instead chose to paint the view from Inspiration Point.  This sight is the final resting place of Helen Hunt Jackson and was the inspiration for her novel Ramona.

                                           Inspiration Point, Seven Falls
                                        Watercolor and ink on paper 5.5x8.25