Hiking Trail, Mount Sutton

Mount Sutton is known for its family-friendly ski hills, and excellent hiking and biking trails. They do a great job maintaining it and keeping the trails from degenerating. This painting shows one of the many brooks that drain rainwater off the mountain. For the most part, the forest is very hot and humid but when we descended to the valley floor near this brook, the cool water acted as a natural air conditioner. In this scene, the water flowed between the multi-coloured potato-shaped rocks. To create the water, I used my new synthetic brush with a quick side drag motion to catch the texture of the paper. The rocks were built up with successive layers of colours and light-to-dark values. 

Brook, Mount Sutton, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3225)

Following the hiking trail, there was a never ending steep climb over muddy trails, waist-sized rocks, fallen trees, and flowing rivers. Okay I am exaggerating a bit about the trail, it felt like five hours of hiking but was probably closer to two hours. The route may have been different than last time, but the destination, Lake Mohawk was the same as a previous trip. Lake Mohawk is a high mountain lake teeming with fish, minnows, dragon flies, and an assortment of other crawlies like leeches.  The painting shows some of the underbrush which was a tapestry of orange pine needles, minty green moss, deep yellow-green moss, dark brown dirt, and grey rocks. Through the trees, Lake Mohawk was reflecting a blue sky and clouds.

Lake Mohawk, Mount Sutton, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022(No. 3226)

 

After thousands of years of flow, the mountain's rivers have carved intricate gorges and natural pools into the rock. It was amazing to see the strong effects of water erosion. The natural pools were available to wade into, if one was brave enough to handle the cold water. Cilei and I took turns jumping into the ice-cold, crystal-clear water, it was very refreshing. Being that cold also made the campfire all the more satisfying.

Natural Pool, Mount Sutton, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2022 (No. 3227)