Driving down the Haleakala Highway into central Maui is a beautiful scene. Ahead of you the West Maui Mountains spread along the central valley, the ocean is to the north, and you are surrounded by sugar cane. I snapped a quick picture one day, and decided to paint it.
I started by transposing the photo to a sketch book so I could get the proportions right for the canvas.
Next: starting with a fresh, blank canvas, one of the most exciting parts of the painting process!
I always use a few background colors that I think will offset the colors in the image and add depth. In this piece I ended up letting a lot of the red show through in the cane fields.
Next I added the sky…smooth and clear, just like this day.
I added the clouds that lingered behind the mountains.
As I put in the mountains I paid close attention to the proportions and specs from my drawing.
Added the sugar cane and other details.
Comparing the painting to the drawing I was pretty happy with how the accuracy and detail of the mountain range turned out.
And it’s finished!
Available on the Mamala O Maui Etsy site.
Mamala O Maui 