The Finisher Awards for White River 50- I Believe Art

          When I created my I Believe Art Facebook Page I wasn't really expecting much. It was just kind of a last hope of not having to find a "regular" job and doing something i enjoyed while still being able to explore the mountains. I actually had the idea in my head for a while but then talked myself out of it. Fortunately, one night an urge overtook me and without another thought I set up the I Believe Art page. I did it just in time for not long after I got asked to do the honor of making the finisher awards for White River 50! I really enjoyed making the paintings so I thought I would share some pictures of different steps of the process...

Had to show off my birthday present from Sage!

To get the boards ready I first applied a layer of gesso and once that dried I put on a layer of paint
over each board. This way the canvas doesn't absorb paint and no white will show. 

To start I did a quick sketch on the board. Then I began painting from the background to foreground: sky, white mountain (Rainier), green mountains, trees, etc. 

Since the runner is the main foreground, I did the runner last.

Finished female finisher painting.

Finished male finisher painting.

The hardest part for me was making almost 400 prints of the paintings as I had never done it before.
I had a little scare when I counted the prints and realized the printer left me 30 short of what I wanted.
Thankfully the printer made me more pretty quickly and I sent everything out the next morning.

The box on the right was 13 lbs!

          Hopefully this will be a good way to remember the race instead of a finisher's medal. While I do appreciate my medals, I know most of mine are in boxes but the few races I received an art piece from are out on display.

         To check out more of my art click on my iBelieve Artwork tab above.

         Good luck to all White River 50 runners and anyone else racing this weekend!

Run Wild, Run Free,

Sandi

(Special thanks to John Wallace and the White River race staff for asking me to provide the art!)