Moab Sunset

I finished the painting that I mentioned in my last post. I took a bunch of pictures outside of Moab, Utah just as the sun was going down. I liked the light in them and decided I had to paint it.


This kind of composition was new for me. I placed the horizon fairly low, leaving a very large, open sky. Sky and clouds have been rather neglected in many of my other paintings, so I figured it was about time that I dedicated more time to them. 


One of the techniques that I found especially helpful for the rock face was glazing. I suppose one might call it more of an opaque glaze. Anyway, I began by sketching in the large rock with a slightly darker/more purple version of the local color. After that was dry, I went in with a darker warm purple and glazed over the entire rock. I was using Liquin and mineral spirits to thin it down. That glaze became the shadow in the recesses. When that became tacky (only an hour or so, as the Liquin sets up quickly), I went in with the orange highlight colors. I've found this technique gives a great sense of light, and I've done it on a number of my mountain paintings.


My palette:


flake white
yellow ochre
raw sienna
cadmium orange (just a tiny bit in the final highlights)
cadmium scarlet
quinacridone rose
burnt sienna
raw umber
ivory black (just a touch to help neutralize some of the greens)
French ultramarine
Prussian blue
viridian

Camelback landscape done

I'm happy to say that this 24x30 painting is finished. I brought cadmium lemon into some of the highlight mixtures in the foreground plants, and a touch in the mountain highlights. The highlights really make it look "finished".

The shadowed side of the mountain wasn't reading very well, so I extended some of the highlighted faces of rock downward.

Now I just need to pick out a frame. I'm thinking a dark mahogany frame will suit the painting well.

I was flipping through some photos I took on a road trip last year, and a couple pictures taken outside of Moab, Utah caught my eye. And on that note, I think I have a new painting in the works.

More work with a limited palette, and the start of a new landscape.

First up is a quick study of a plaster cast that I did last week. I was experimenting with an earth-tone "student" palette.

Titanium/zinc white, yellow ochre, Venetian red, raw umber, and ivory black.


I took a photo of the cast from a couple different angles, so I think I will take another shot or two at it, and maybe spend a little more time refining the paintings as well.


Next up is the start of a commissioned painting of Camelback Mountain in Phoenix. It measures 24x30 inches.

My palette (usually very minimal) is somewhat expanded for this painting. 


flake white
yellow ochre 
raw sienna
cadmium scarlet
quinacridone rose
burnt sienna
raw umber
ultramarine
viridian


I'm waiting on throwing in the cadmium yellow until near the end. I want to restrict the vibrancy of my greens for right now, and then use cadmium in some of the mixes for only the closest bushes. That will help convey a sense of atmosphere/distance.