Calm Waters in Endo Valley

This was painted in the Endo Valley a few hundred yards up from the other river painting. As I was walking around this area trying to find the best place to set up I discovered a piece of rebar sticking straight up about a foot near this bush. I couldn't figure out why it was there out in the middle of this beautiful valley. I started painting and about a half hour later I saw these two guys who I thought were fisherman trouncing around through the bushes. When they got closer I realized that they had no fishing rods and asked them what they were up to. They said they were looking for markers left in the 80s. As I went back to painting, I turned back to them and asked "what kind of markers..." They said "rebar"! I saved them a bunch of work, well, that was one of 3 or 4 that they were looking to remove. I felt like that was a good sign for the day; now back to painting...

To see more of my Estes Park Plein Air paintings and other landscapes and mountain scenes visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Rocky Mountain Overlook

Just outside of Estes Park I painted this little 6" x 8" plein air painting that was off the main road in the Rocky Mountain National Park. We drove around the park a while and then came across this scene off an overlook turnout. I hiked down a ways to find something to put in the foreground and found this scene. Hope you like it!

To see more of my Estes Park Plein Air paintings and other landscapes and mountain scenes visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

View of Tyndall Gorge - Rocky Mountains

Mark Rittorno, Carole Gray Weihman and I went back to Sprague Lake to paint from the opposite side looking up into the mountains. We walked around the lake and found a great spot to paint from. All three of us set up our easels side by side so that we couldn't see each others compositions and started painting. It was quite interesting to see that all of our layouts ended up being quite similar anyway.

More folks stopped and chatted with us than on any other day. These paint-outs are great to introduce children and adults alike to plein air painting. I was also amazed at how many people already knew what plein air painting was all about. And not just the local folks who may be use to the Estes Park plein air event, people from all over the country. This was a great day to be out in nature with beautiful scenery, friendly folks and painting!

To see more of my Estes Park Plein Air paintings and other landscapes and mountain scenes visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

In the Forest - Estes Park Plein Air

We met up with Wes Hyde for a morning during the Estes Park Plein Air and painted near the stream in Endo Valley. Wes set up to the right of my scene and painted the stream under the trees. I liked the way the light was cast across this old dead tree so I set up here to paint it within ear shot of Wes. I liked the way that some of the tree was almost turning orange as it was decaying next to the grey of the outer skin.

To see more of my Estes Park Plein Air paintings and other landscapes visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Endo Valley Cascade

This stream meanders through the Endo Valley in the Rocky Mountain National Park. I was starting my painting here when out of the brush behind me this guy stumbles out and says "I come all the way from California and I still can't get away from you!" or something to that effect. It was my smiling friend Mike Bagdonas, the only artist I've met that is significantly taller than me. And a darn good painter! We chatted for a bit and then he went around the bend in the right of my painting and painted his scene. Ahead of him was Mark Rittorno, and ahead of him was Carole Gray Weihman. Meeting up with other artists at these plein air events is one of the best parts of the events.

To see more of my Estes Park Plein Air paintings and other landscapes and river scenes visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Sprague Lake Morning

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Mark Rittorno, Carole Gray Weihman and I painted together for much of the Estes Park Plein Air event. This was painted on the first morning at Sprague Lake in the Rocky Mountain National Forest. I headed east around the lake and stopped on a little bridge overlooking the lake with this marsh in the foreground. There was something about the deep values in the foreground water that transitioned into the lighter colors towards the horizon along with the distant mountain that made me want to paint this scene. Later in the week I painted from the distant shore looking back over my shoulder at Tyndall Gorge. Check back in a few days to see that painting!

To see more of my Estes Park Plein Air paintings and other landscapes visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Upper Beaver Meadows - Rocky National Forest

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This was painted on the first afternoon painting in the Rocky Mountain National Forest. The clouds were coming and going as we were painting at this location. We had planned to come back here so I could finish this.

When we did return the clouds were thick and then the thunder and lightning came. I decided to start another painting since it was a completely different scene. Carole, Mark and I were huddled between the Jeep and Toyota for a wind block. We soon decided that wasn't a great idea with lightning coming so close. We were one of the highest objects out there (and being 6'2" I was the highest) so we reluctantly packed it in. I continued to paint from the passenger seat for a while but it soon became impossible to see through the thick rain. Ahh, plein air; you got to love it!

To see more of my Estes Park Plein Air paintings and other landscapes visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Portrait of a Girl - Quickdraw

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This was painted at the Wyoming Plein Air Quickdraw in down town Cheyenne near the train depot building. We had 90-120 minutes to complete the painting before the whistle blew. We then framed the painting and took it over to the Plains Hotel to be auctioned. This portrait was a bit of a challenge as the elements came into play. The shadows from the heavy clouds were causing the light to go in and out and then it started to rain towards the end of our allotted time. To see more of my portraiture visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Note: If you click on the image to see it zoomed up you can see the small rain drops on it as this photo was taken right before I took it to the auction. They are most obvious on her cheek.

Wild Horse Country - SOLD

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This is painted above Green River,Wyoming in the wild horse area. It is just off Interstate 80 and there are some 30,000 wild horses. We saw the horses on most days in groups of 1-20. This view is looking south towards Utah. Below are photos of me painting this painting and a close up of the painting blocked in on the easel.

Water Lilies - at the Cheyenne Arboretum

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Carole and I each taught a day of our workshops at the Cheyenne Arboretum. We decided to go back to the pond for one of our required days painting in Cheyenne as part of the Wyoming Plein Air event. I was intrigued with the reflection in the pond and the coy swimming partially in and out of the shadows.

Bull at Wyoming Capitol Building

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For the Wyoming Plein Air event we had two weeks where we could paint anywhere in Wyoming but three of those days had to be in the city of Cheyenne. I chose to paint this sculpture on the lawn of the State Capitol building. I painted this over two afternoons. The first day I blocked it in and was having fun with the colors in the bronze until the clouds showed up. The second day was cut short too as they turned on the sprinkler; I guess they wanted me out of there. See photos below to see the start and end of the first day. You can also see how the light changes so much in 2 hours!

Tollgate Sunset

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This was painted near interstate 80 in Green River, Wyoming. We really liked the area around Green River as Carole and I passed through on our way to Cheyenne to teach a couple workshops. Once we finished the workshops we checked in for the Wyoming Plein Air event and then headed back to Green River to paint for a few days. I spent a couple evenings on this maybe for an hour or two each. The first evening there were these great cloud formations as a storm was brewing. Maybe an hour in to it from out of the blue both Carole and my hats blew of at the same time. We both darted across the road trying to get our hats back before they were gone for good. We looked down the road by the hotel and a wall of dust, maybe 12 feet high was quickly heading our way. My first thought was a funnel touch down but it was just a large gust. We grabbed our easels and ducked behind the truck for cover holding on to everything as the wind was trying to take it all away. Dust everywhere. Heavy rain soon followed as we tried to tear our gear down and get into the truck. We watched the storm pass through the rain with lots of thunder and lightning as the sun went down.

When we went back to finish the paintings a few nights later it was a completely different sky so I went with the new sunset. It was a calm night and a few folks stopped by to chat and let us know that this was a great spot to take photos. We agreed.