"NEAR THE SUMMIT" New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Near the Summit"

Oil on Canvas

18" x 24"

Here is my latest piece painted from reference shot in the fall near the Mt. Rose summit late in the day. I was really captivated by the late afternoon light hitting the tops of the trees as well as the subtle ambient light on the shaded rocks and snow... 

"WINTER CREEK" New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Winter Creek"

Oil on Canvas

20" x 16"

Just thought I'd keep the Winter theme going a bit longer... I know, like you I'm getting antsy for Spring...it's coming! 

"WINTER MORNING SUNRISE" New, Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Winter Morning Sunrise"

Oil on Canvas

18" x 24"

When in doubt, make it up...sort of! This is one of the many awesome sunrises I get to see when I actually look outside in the morning when I get up to paint. The photo just doesn't do it justice in the least so I decided to try to capture the wonder of it on canvas. As you can see however, an awesome sunrise isn't going to translate all that well with my side fence and barbeque grill in the foreground. I wanted to balance the sky drama with a little something in the foreground albeit a very dark value. I decided to just wing it on my canvas without any reference. I was able to easily place a stream and some brush in the foreground on account there wouldn't be much detail required due to the subdued lighting, however, I wasn't able to pull off a very realistic reflection at first. I went online and did an image search of streams and rivers to observe how low light actually reflects. I didn't find anything too close to what I intended, however, just studying reflections in general gave me enough understanding to pull off the one I made up in my painting.

"SYCAMORE" New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Sycamore"

Oil on Canvas

20" x 24"

I have always been intrigued by the warm winter light low on the horizon as it strikes the sycamore trees in their winter state bereft of leaves, so I thought I would challenge myself to paint one...

"Snowpile" Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Snowpile"
10" x 8" oil on canvas

This is piece was done as a challenge that I gave to the critique group I'm in. The challenge was to paint something "ugly", but paint it well...this is my effort toward that end!