Large-Scale Landscape Painting Process

An inside look at how I create large-scale acrylic and spray paint landscape paintings on location throughout Washington State and the Pacific Northwest.

Maps / BLM Land

BLM land is at the corner stone of my process, perhaps americas best kept secret is free camping year round for up to 2 weeks per location. Yes, that means you could live rent free year round and I’ve had the pleasure of meeting people who do so.

Map of a mountainous region showing hiking trails, wilderness areas, peaks, and parks around the Upper Valley Meadow, Henry M. Jackson Wilderness, and Glacier Peak Wilderness in Washington state.
Learn more about blm/dnr

Vehicle Choice for Off-Road / Overland

Something I’m equally as passionate about out when discussing art is off-roading and overlanding. Think of overlanding as van life combined with off-roading, you aren’t camping in town in a wall art parking lot, you are an hour deep into the woods with no cell service.

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A silver minivan with an open front passenger door parked on a rocky, grassy terrain with a forested hillside in the background.
Vehicle choice

Vehicle Layout / Design.

This topic should be at the bottom, as it kinda incorporates almost everything togewther, all these decisions of destination, vehicle choice, length of stay, power source, food and cooking needs, sleeping situation and number of people or animals involved and even more all effect your ideal way to layout and design where things fit and go inside your car.

Interior of a van with dim purple lighting, showing a bed with blankets and pillows, a large flat-screen TV, and a pet dog resting on a blanket.
Vehicle layout

Off-roading obstacles and culture

You’ve got location, you have the car, now you actually get to go out. Off-roading can seem incredibly intimidating, usually your seeing very built up specialty vehicles with people who have lots of knowledge and experience but they all had to start in the same place.

A red all-terrain vehicle (ATV) parked on a rocky, desert trail surrounded by sparse bushes, cacti, and arid terrain under a clear blue sky.
Learn more about off-roading
Red first aid kit with a white cross and the words 'First Aid Kit' on the front.

Safety.

The risk and reward, there are a multitude of ways to approach this lifestyle and the different levels of commitment and danger and reward are interlinked.

Learn more on safety

Water, food, power

While these are all separate categories, they are subjects that affect each other directly and indirectly.

Camping scene with a portable grill cooking sausages and toasted bread near a river in a wooded area. Items on the table include a beer can, a package of cheese, and a soda in a koozie.
Food, Water, Power

Painting process, subject matter and media.

This is the heart of the entire experince, and is entirely unique to any other art making process, media or subject. Being surrounded by your subject matter is addicting to say the least. Creating art centered around landscape or nature has everything and nothing to do with you or your experince. You are much more aware of the scale of life and effort vs reward.

Colorful abstract landscape painting on an easel outdoors, surrounded by fallen autumn leaves and grass, with trees and a blue sky in the background.
Painting Process

List of all tools

This is a complete list of every tool you will need and may need. With so many subjects, it’s worth organizing all the tools you may need and that I’ve used and have experience with, both in terms of what to buy, where to buy it and. How it preforms

Coming soon