Kodiak Spring. Painting #48. Custom Oil Painting of Barometer Mountain, Alaska

Barometer Mountain stands alone on an early spring day on Kodiak Island. Kodiak Spring is painting #48 and a custom oil painting of an Alaska landscape.

Let’s Get Started!

This post is about my original oil painting, Kodiak Spring. First, I’ll talk about the inspiration for this painting. When I talk about inspiration in this blog, it will normally be why I chose a certain subject, Bob Ross episode, or other artist tutorial to follow. Then, I will go over the colors and equipment I used and that you will need if you want to try your hand at it or something similar. Next, I will expound a bit about my process. Finally, I’ll wrap up with some lessons that I learned from painting this picture and things I could have done better or wished I had known. So join me on this trip down memory lane as I recap my 48th overall oil painting.

The Inspiration

An old coworker from my Air Force days in Germany reached out to me through Instagram and asked if I could paint a custom oil painting of Barometer Mountain in Alaska. The mountain carries personal meaning for him—it was part of his childhood and he wanted a piece of that memory captured on canvas. He said he’d seen what I’d been creating and felt I was the right artist to take it on.

He didn’t send a photo reference—just a request: Barometer Mountain as the subject. That mountain meant something to him, and he gave me full creative license to interpret it however I saw fit. So I did what any artist would do when handed a blank slate with emotional weight—I started researching.

I combed through Google and Instagram, digging up various angles and compositions of Mt. Barometer until I found a collection that felt right to compose a custom oil painting of this Alaska landscape. To pull it together, I searched through photos of the mountain and the surrounding area, gathering pieces from different angles until I could visualize something that felt true to the area and true to my style.

Notes From the Easel

I broke away from my usual technique on this one. Instead of the standard Bob Ross strokes I’ve gotten used to, I experimented with different brushwork in the foreground to add texture. Instead of using the two inch brush for the foreground grass, I used the fan brush and gently lifted upwards to give the effect of tall grass. One thing I notice now when looking back at Kodiak Spring is how the mountain’s highlights and shadows took on a life of their own. Instead of limiting them to a single light angle, like I’d often seen in Bob Ross demos, I followed the terrain. The paint “broke” spectacularly in spots thanks to the knife, which gave the mountain its edge and drama. But I also softened sections with the brush, especially where I wanted more natural transitions or uneven textures.

Final Thoughts

I’ve done commissions before—mostly requests for replicas of Bob Ross paintings I’d already posted. But custom oil paintings? Those were rare. Only one other person had requested an original commission and that one was Night Train. That one was cool and I had a cool photo to work with.

This commission felt different. This request was different. I had no visual anchor, only scattered source material and someone’s emotional attachment.

I remember standing in front of the canvas thinking, “What am I doing? Someone actually asked me to paint a picture—me!” It was surreal. And then the doubt crept in.

“I have no business doing this. I’m not even a trained artist. Why am I doing this?”

I don’t know exactly why those thoughts showed up. Maybe it’s part of being self-taught. I suspect most artists hit that kind of wall at some point. Even calling myself an artist felt strange back then—I’d only been painting for about a year and a half.

Anyway, the painting turned out great—and even better, the client loved it. Honestly, the more I look at it, the more I like it myself. The highlights on the mountain really sing, and while I had a bit of a challenge blending the end of the snow line, I think it came together well in the end.

Until Next Time!

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Until next time, Happy Painting and Kizzle OUT! 🫡