#3 of 30 - "Big Granite, Small Pines"

The latest in the "30 Paintings in 30 Days" challenge, another small oil pastel piece. I tried the softer Sennelier pastels for this one--what a challenge! They're so soft, they melt in my hands. I ended up using a Swiss Army knife to scrape and spread the paint a bit. That worked pretty well, actually.
"Big Granite, Small Pines" - Cathedral Lakes, Yosemite NP, CA, USA
- Oil Pastel on Paper, approx. 5x7"/127x178mm

A few years ago, we hiked up into the Cathedral Lakes area of Yosemite National Park. Such a wonderful day! As we wandered around the lake, I snapped this shot of a small copse of pines. About an hour later, we were sitting on top of Medlicott Dome, looking out at Cloud's Rest and Half Dome on one side and Cathedral Peak on the other. Capturing this light with the very soft Sennelier oil pastels was a real challenge! I don't have a real painting knife, so I used my little Swiss Army knife to scrape and spread the paint around.