12/06/2026
lPt. 6 - My fifth and final hike was more of a stroll, but after 4 hikes in a row, even a short hike on mostly flat ground was a bit taxing. The ever-popular Spring Lake was lovely. I don't think there is one iconic picturesque scene to paint along the lake; however, there are a lot of small coves that create fun little vignettes to paint. This was somewhere along the southwest shore. If you've fished along the lake, certainly you have either fished here or strolled past it.
"Spring Lake Warmth" 8x12 Gouache on paper mounted to board
Tuesday! The day before the show! I marathoned 4 of the paintings the night before, then woke up early to finish the final piece. I started the varnishing process on the finished pieces the night before, so I had to finish the fifth piece to get to the varnishing process started on the final piece.
If you're not familiar with my varnishing process, here is the breakdown:
First, I start with a couple of layers of Krymar spray to make it as water resistant as I can before I create the barrier with acrylic gloss medium. Once that layer is dry, I do a third layer which is usually Golden semi-gloss spray varnish. I don't always do this, but I finish it with a fourth and final layer of either Gamvar or spray of Shellac. The shellac has a slight amber tone to it, so I save it for warm toned paintings. It's perfect for these paintings, which have a dusty, old-timey feel to them that lend themselves to a slight Old-World warmth to the finish. It really needs to be seen in person to appreciate the subtlety.
Anyway, each layer takes a minimum of a half hour in between to cure, and even more for the final layers. This meant that I needed a block of at least 3 hours dedicated to this process. So as I was juggling that, I was photographing and archiving the pieces, along with getting the frames ready (drilling holes for the hardware, etc).
To read the exciting conclusion and purchase this piece, head over to my blog! www.sergiolopezfineart.com/blog
