One of Russell’s favorite places to practice his modeling and to paint was his summer cabin on Lake McDonald, in what was to become Glacier National Park. The cabin, eventually named Bull Head Lodge, was built of pine logs with a shake roof stained to match the surrounding forest. A large balcony was built around three sides of the cabin, encompassing three large cedar trees. When the weather was good, Russell set up an easel on the porch. He relished the time he was able to spend close to nature, and it was here that he frequently painted smaller field sketches in oil that depicted pure landscapes. The subject of this sketch is the view one gets when standing near the shore of the lake directly in front of Bull Head Lodge. Russell enjoyed taking short hikes in the surrounding country with a portable pack containing sketching materials. Nancy Russell once recalled the joys of being in such a spectacular setting. “Sometimes we would watch a big soft cloud roll up over the Garden Wall [a great massif of rock above the lake]. Soon a rain shower would come down the lake and quiet its surface, then the sun would break through and a rainbow would span the lake, a crowning glory of the great outdoors.”