Additional Paintings from this Summer

Here are a couple more paintings I never posted from earlier this summer. Both of these are from a Grand Canyon hike that took place during the first weekend of June on the South Bass Trail.

"Leaving South Bass Camp" 16x16 inch, oil painting with palette knife

"Sunrise from South Bass Trail" 18x24 inch, oil painting with a palette knife

Another new painting to share!

"Hermit's Rest" 9x12 inch acrylic.

New oil Painting: "Monsoon from Point Imperial"

18x24" palette knife oil painting, "Monsoon from Point Imperial." I completed this a couple weeks ago. I was craving rain on the day I painted it and decided to paint a rainy, moody painting since the monsoon rains had pittered out. Enjoy!

The North Rim - Day 2, Part 2

The sunset from Point Imperial was magnificent. When we arrived, rain showers played with the canyon walls and light shimmered on the distant horizon. I wondered if the sun would peek through the clouds behind us for a magical light show. It sure did and a rainbow appeared, creating a dazzling display of color.

The North Rim, Day 2 - Part 1

On Sunday, we woke up to a few ravens terrorizing the camp at about 6:30. It was partly cloudy, so I thought to check out the canyon from a vantage point near the campground. There were rain showers in the distance and the sun highlighted the Transcept formation. After breakfast, we packed up our camp and checked out because we could not get the same site for both nights, being that we reserved last minute. We hiked the Uncle Jim Trail to return around 11:00 to set up camp again. Later, we went wildflower hunting. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and reading a novel. A cloud cover formed over us and it looked like rain. No rain. We had planned to drive 18 miles to Point Sublime but the road was closed due to fires. The next blog will be of Sunday nights sunset from Point Imperial...

My dependable 4Runner, over 206,000 miles and going strong!

The North Rim, Day 1

We arrived to the campground around 1pm, set up, and went for a stroll along the Transcept Trail to the lodge. We returned to our campsite to enjoy the shade underneath the quaking aspen trees. After dinner, we drove to Point Imperial and then to Cape Royal to watch the sunset.

from Cape Royal

from our campsite

from Cape Royal

from Cape Royal

last light, from Cape Royal looking West

from Cape Royal

from Cape Royal

Angel's Window

A Weekend at the North Rim

This past weekend was spent camping and hiking at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. There are many things to like about the North Rim. The only downside is the 5 hour drive. Other than that, comparing it to the South Rim, the North Rim is quieter, cooler, more densely forested, and quieter (this deserves mentioning twice!). Sunday morning, for example, we hiked on Uncle Jim Trail and only saw 2 other groups of people. Experiencing the Grand Canyon in isolation and quiet allowed for a more meditative experience. My wife and I enjoyed a sunset all to ourselves at Point Imperial last night. I have 450+ photos to sort through and edit. Here is one of my favorites from our first sunset of the weekend from Point Royal. The monsoonal clouds were amazing! More to come...

New Palette Knife Oil Painting

"Sunrise from South Bass," 8x10" palette knife oil painting. This is a study for a larger painting I completed last weekend. The subject is from my Grand Canyon trip earlier this month on the South Bass trail. It was early morning, 6am, overcast and soft lighting. The clouds began to break up and the sun spotlit this scene for me to be inspired to paint.

Grand Canyon Hike Pt. 5

Here are a few more pictures from my hike on the South Bass Trail a week ago to conclude my series of blog entries about this trip.  I enjoyed every minute of being at the Grand Canyon and am already planning my next hike! 

Early morning on the way out

Heading a few miles up the trail for our second night, during the evening

Went on a short day hike near the river.  Dean enjoying the shade!

Plenty of lizards

Grand Canyon Hike Pt. 1

A group of friends and I recently completed a three-day hike on the South Bass Trail, staying two nights at the Colorado River and in the Canyon.  We arrived a day early to allow for extra time to get to the trailhead via a 30 mile dirt road requiring a high-clearance vehicle in places (easy work for my trusty 4Runner).  After dinner, we drove out to Havusapai Point to watch the sunset.  We were rewarded with a panoramic view and a sunset exhibiting vibrant colors.  Here are a few of my favorites. I will continue posting selections from my trip during this week.

Winter in the Grand Canyon

 Here is a recent 9x12" oil painting inspired from a hike last March.  It was an overcast day but the sun was illuminating the snow on the south rim.  This was about a mile down-trail from Indian Gardens, as my wife and I made our way back to the south rim after spending two nights at Phantom Ranch.  In my painting, I really wanted to emphasize the soft light of this wintery morning.  I have included the photo and sketch below, sources for my painting. 

Finishing Touches

After a few weeks of checking out  my painting on my living room wall and a valuable critique by an artist friend, I made the finishing touches on my big Grand Canyon painting.  The changes may seem minor but they helped keep the center of interest just that, the most important area of the painting without other areas distracting from it.  In case you haven't guessed, the focal area is the bright orange and red area in the center/left portion.   I did a little darkening around the juniper tree on the bottom left, darkened the little pink cliff near the lower left, made the sweeping purple clouds less purple and lighter, and simplified the lower right corner.  Compare them for yourself with the image below.  My thesis presenation will be on November 19th if anyone is interested, 3:00-3:50 in the Chapel Room at Prescott College.  This painting and the artwork leading up to it will also be on display, hopefully for the weekend of November 19-21 also in the Chapel Room.  Wish me luck!

Surprise!! More Grand Canyon images.

I had a little spare time to go through some photos I took last May from Shoshone Point.  I am looking forward to doing this more often, looking through my photos, editing them and thinking about sketching them for possible oil paintings.  I have been very busy lately writing my thesis, and I have just sent in my first draft to a couple readers for imput.  Cross you fingers nothing is drastically wrong with my writing.  I've spent so much time on it already and know I must still revise it to perfection by the end of November.  I anxiously await spending more time on my artwork and less time on schoolwork starting January 2011! 

Sketches

Cedar Ridge

From Hermit Trail

From Hermit Trail II

Kaibab Juniper

from Kaibab Trail

Here are the charcoal sketches I mentioned in my last post.  I worked from photographs, using about a one-inch piece of compressed charcoal.  Each drawing measures about 12x10 inches.  The idea behind doing this step is to extract the essence of the place from the photo.  A photo often shows too much to be used in a painting.  I've found a lot of my creativity is lost by working directly from a photo, losing myself in trying to copy exact colors and details.  A painting should be filtered through me, to become a landscape painting that communicates my perception of the place.   I then paint directly from these sketches, making up the color as I remembered seeing it in person.  The sketches serve as a value study and a place to experiment with different designs, like moving a tree slightly or darkening a certain area.  To me this is an exciting part of creativity where I can use my imagination!