A few recent paintings!

Here are three recent studio oil paintings.  "Blue Juniper" and "Bright Angel" are available, however "Ponderosa" is already called for (but I could make prints of it if you are interested).  I posted images of two of these already, but today they were dry enough to scan in at high resolution.  Enjoy!

"Blue Juniper"  11x14



"Bright Angel" 9x12




"Ponderosa" 12x16



Walking in an Autumn Wonderland

Autumn in Arizona is not complete without hiking at West Fork, North of Sedona, a side canyon of Oak Creek.  I talked my wife into waking up at 6am to beat the rush at the parking lot.  A couple years ago, we waited one hour to get a parking spot.  West Fork is popular this time of year and there are many reasons why, but mostly it is a stunning canyon!  We hiked the full three miles before the canyon narrows to the point that we would have to wade in water.  It was too cold for that but I will come back in the summer to do the full 11 miles sometime soon (I hope).  When we arrived, it was cold, about 38 degrees, but the soft light was marvelous.  I can't wait to work on painting these awesome sights I caught on camera.  Sure enough, by the time we left at noon-thirty, a line of cars six deep were waiting to park.  By the way, parking there is now a whoppin' ten bucks, but it is well worth it. 

Thesis Show

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!

Fireplace Springs

When I thought I knew of all of the trails in Prescott, I found another gem.  I heard about Fireplace Springs from a friend and decided to find it.  This trail was not in any of my books but I found it on Sharlot Hall Museum's website, of all places.  Check it out: http://sharlot.org/archives/maps/trailmaps/index.html.  My wife and I parked at the Thumb Butte Parking area and began hiking North.  Amazingly, we found this tucked in Riparian area and with brilliant fall color!  The air was crisp and moist from recent rains.  I will certainly come back to this area. 

"Ponderosa"

 "Ponderosa" is a 12x16 oil painting I just completed this morning.  I've included the charcoal sketch I used as a reference for the painting and the original source of inspiration, a photograph taken near Flagstaff May of 2009 during early morning.  As you can see, the painting has changed significantly from the photograph, which was my intention.  I don't want to copy the photograph but paint a landscape that is about processing the scene through my creative filter, concentrating on mood of color and light instead of the details of a photograph.  I really should be working on my thesis, but I felt like I needed a boost from a morning in the studio.  I rationalized this by waking up at 6am so I would still have all of the afternoon to work on the left brained stuff.  Plus, I can't work all day on one side of the brain...  Sorry about all of the shiny spots on the image above, the painting was still wet and probably will be for a couple more weeks.  I used a comination of palette knife and a #10 brush on this painting.