Saturday, March 30, 2013

"Pronghorns"....Plus a little road trip.


Pronghorns
"Pronghorns" is my entry today into the Daily Paintworks auction. This original pen & ink rendering was completed with black and brown inks, using a combination of stroke work with the stippling, or pointillism technique.  I thought that the sepia tone, like in the old tintype photos, which I use on some of my Native American portraits, would be a nice look here.  

Fans of the TV show "South Park", are probably aware of the fact that there actually is an area of Colorado that this cartoon is based upon.  If you are not a fan, and have never seen the TV program, this little tidbit has more than likely escaped you.  But, having lived in Colorado on and off for about 20 years, I am very familiar with both this fact and this area.  Most of my time in Colorado was spent in the Colorado Springs area, but I did spend five years in Summit County (ski country), home to the towns of Breckenridge, Frisco, Dillon, Silverthorne, Keystone and Copper Mountain.

Traveling west from Colorado Springs to Breckenridge would take you through the town of Fairplay, and the area known as South Park.  It was one of my favorite drives through the state.  You did not see the splendor of the Rockies as much as you did on a trip from Denver to Summit County and beyond, say to Vail or Glenwood Springs, but you did get a little taste of everything Colorado has to offer.  As you start off from Colorado Springs on Hwy. 24 you would pass little mountain towns like Green Mountain Falls, Chipita Park and Cascade, which is the gateway to the top of Pike's Peak. Next would be Woodland Park, Divide, and Lake George, plus a turn off (Hwy. 67) that would take you into Cripple Creek.  You would also pass the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, where you could check out some of the prehistoric fossils unearthed in the area.  Once you reached the little town of Hartsel, and turned off onto Hwy. 9, the trip really got interesting.  This stretch of land is like a high mountain dessert stuck in between two mountain ranges.  If you take this trip in the winter, when the area is blanketed by snow, it reminds you of some sort of moonscape or alien terrain.  If you take the trip in the summer, you are more than likely to see herds of Pronghorn Antelope grazing on either side of the highway.  Every time I look at this rendering, I think about all of the times I made that trip over the years spent in Colorado.  This also happens to lead you to the area of South Park and the town of Fairplay.  From there, you start your climb back into the mountains, and your last stop before heading over Hoosier Pass, is the little town of Alma, which I believe is the highest unincorporated town in the United States.  I think that Leadville holds that honor for actual townships.  Next is Hoosier Pass, and the twisty, winding, beautiful drive down into Breckenridge along the Blue River.  Before Breckenridge exploded into the massive ski resort that it is today, it used to be a quaint little village, with a sign on either side of town that said quite simply, "Welcome to the Kingdom of Breckenridge". 

The link beneath the image will take you over to the auction page at Daily Paintworks, and from there you can check out all of the originals currently at auction.  If you are interested in notecards or prints, please visit my website or storefront/galleries at Etsy and FineArtAmerica.  Links are provided in the side panel of the blog for easy access.

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