The Art of Chris Froelich

In an attempt to escape the heat, I made a day trip up to the Virginia Lakes area. I’d been here before on a photography trip, but failed to make any interesting photos. These lakes are at about 8,400' and crystal clear. The biggest lake has two small waterfalls that fill the lakes.  I brought a small sketchbook and gouache hoping to try some plein air. When I arrived it was 72 and sunny. Perfect!  I hiked around for an hour or so, ate a lunch, then went find a composition I liked. When I arrived it was perfect weather.   I didn’t have an easel or anything. I just sat on a rock with my sketchbook in my lap. I was just starting to sketch in my first painting when thunder rolled over my left shoulder. I wasn’t far from the car and it was still sunny so I continued on with laying in values.  Value sketch in gouache.  After about 5 minutes it started sprinkling then switched over to a full rain.  Since gouache is water soluble it’s not a good idea to combine it with rain! It took about

I picked up a small 4x8 watercolor block. I like the panoramic ratio and works well for the eastern Sierra mountains. A little study inspired by Maynard Dixon. I used only a 3/4 synthetic squirrel dagger brush. I must force myself always to simplify.  Inyo Study - 4x8 watercolor

I tried a small study working on simplifying shapes and making interesting marks and color. Gouache has a tendency to wash out. It’s hard to layer colors. I like the values though. 

Painting  Misty River - 4x8 Watercolor  I haven’t posted here for 6 years. In that time, I put down my camera and picked a paint brush. In the short couple years I’ve peen painting I’ve discovered that painting is almost the opposite of photography and yet also the same. It’s the same in that your trying to represent reality in a stylistic manner that may or may not represent the “truth”, but it does it in a way that evokes a response from the audience and artist. They differ in that painting starts as a blank canvas that you fill with meaning but photography is a process of capturing the world on film by finding a way to eliminate all the distractions and unnecessary elements diminishing your vision. Painting is additive and photography is subtractive. At least to me.  Hope Valley - 10x8 pastel on sand paper. Similar to photography in that my subject still manages to be smack dab in the center of the composition.  I started out my painting adventure by picking up a Koi watercolor set.

February 28, 2015 Sorensen's Resort, Hope Valley, CA Near the middle of January, it became apparent to me that I was no longer willing to work for my previous employer. There is an every widening gap between my business ethics and philosophy and that of the people who wrote my check. That gap created a conflict of interest leading to stress gnaweing away at my emotional and physical health. In frustration, I threw out a couple of resumes, having no idea how long it would take to get a new job.  Luckily, for me, there was a fish looking for just what I was casting, and I had an offer in just a few days. I needed to give notice to my boss that I was leaving, and when I was up in the mountains (just breathing), I stopped at Sorensen's to see what was for lunch. I picked up a flyer for a photography workshop that only cost $75 and was run by Terry Nathan, a photography educator at UC Davis. It was on Saturday, the 28th of February, a day I was scheduled to work.

Katie, Polly, and I had a beautiful day up in the Sierras on Saturday. We started out with a late lunch an Sorenson's Resort, and then continued up into Carson Pass, exploring US Forest roads. This was a digital day for me, using my Fuji XE2 and a Fuji 10-24mm lens. By all accounts, this lens is one of the finest ultra wide lenses ever made. I have no idea if that is true since I have nothing to compare it to, but so far I am extremely happy with it. I've collected a humongous pile of undeveloped film, so I'm not going to shoot anymore until I get the rolls I already have developed. Since we're moving in a few weeks, nothing is expected to happen in that arena.  The one thing that has really impressed me with the Fuji is the ability to pull highlights and shadows out of the RAW files. The JPEG files had white skies and very little shadow detail. Looking at the LCD screen while I was shooting made me consider shooting multiple exposures and blending them. But I'