Step 1. I began by painting the sky with a wash of phthalo blue green shade. I extended the wash into the area of the mountain ridge, leaving a few areas dry and unpainted to indicate the snowfields. While the sky was still wet I brushed a stroke of cobalt blue across the highest point to show how the color is deepest at the zenith. I painted the pool area first with a mixture of phthalo green and phthalo blue green shade. Darker colors were added with a mixture of phthalo blue red shade plus carbazole violet. The pool extended into shallow areas where the color was more violet/pink. I used carbazole violet, permanent alizarin crimson and quinacridone burnt orange to neutralize the hue.
Step 2. Next I painted the mountains, taking care to leave the white of the snowfields. I mixed phthalo blue red shade with hansa yellow and quinacridone burnt orange for the green timbered slopes. Then I painted the thermal areas with pyrrol orange, quinacridone burnt orange, yellow ochre and hansa yello. I let many of the colors merge into one another to give the appearance of a wet pool.
Step 3. The lodgepole pines in the middle ground were added next. I mixed phthalo blue red shade, hansa yellow plus quinacridone burnt orange. Then I painted the sinter (ground surrounding the pool) with a mixture of carbazole violet, quinacridone burn torange and phtahlo blue red shade (all much diluted). I drybruhsed texture in some areas, while in others I used simple horizontal brushstrokes.
Step 4. Next I painted the dark areas at the edge of the sinter ground where it meets the rim of the pool. I also did some further dry brushing of the foreground areas to add texture, using the same pigments I had used in the washes, with just a little more saturation.
Step 5. Finally I rewet the upper edge of the blue pool and used a sea sponge to soften the edge where the vapors rise from the pool. While the area was still wet, I added white gouache.
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