Graceland

I wanted to take a drive on California State Route 1 one of my favorite scenic routes. My girlfriend and I stopped by the road right before the coast to take a look at the rolling hills and the cows. I came on this ride with my Nikon D5100 camera hoping to capture some reference photos for future paintings. This was one I knew I wanted to paint right away.

I decided on a longer canvas since I wanted to capture a relaxed feeling. I took several photos from different views and used most of them for this composition. The Hills for me were the main event and I wanted to make sure they covered most of the canvas. I had a lot of trouble with the foreground, I kept adding and taking away detail since I wasn't sure just how much I wanted the foreground to stand out. In the end I settled for a lot less detail and let the two cows steal the show.