Instructions and tutorials in egg Tempera painting.

Tracking Louis L'Amour

The inspiration for this piece was a hike I took in the Mt. Zirkel wilderness area many years ago with my great friends Gene and Molly. We weren't too far below timberline at the time I took the photo which I used as the study for this trail. The air at that elevation is crisp and clean so the light is spectacular. The mountain peak in the distance is Mt. Yale, somewhat further to the south, but I took the liberty of moving it in because I love it's distinctive shapes.

I wasn't really thinking of Louis L'Amour at the time, but after my father introduced me to him, his stories always come back to me because of his love of the Western frontier and it's rugged landscapes. In Colorado (and most of the American West) you don't have to go far to escape the complicated modern world and experience places like this. I've even done it on horseback so this painting really takes me back.

I painted in the figure on horseback almost as an afterthought. A Louis L'Amour character wandering the landscape on the way to his next adventure may seem a bit trite, but Mr. L'Amore created the stereotype, so I'm fine with it. I can't be in places like this and not think about him.