First Light is based on an early morning scene in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. I often get up early looking for this kind of soft new light, knowing that the colors and shadows can change very quickly. What stopped me here was the warm light catching the tops of the distant mountains and then appearing again in the foreground stream. The painting also provides a good lesson in creating depth, moving from the dark foreground trees and reddish willows, through the smaller shapes of the middle ground, and finally to the illuminated mountains in the distance. This is a good painting for newer students because these layers are clearly defined and provide a straightforward way to understand value, color, and distance in a landscape. If you'd like to paint along with me, a downloadable copy of the reference photograph is available inside the tutorial.

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