Plein Air in Oak Creek Canyon

Here is an 8x10 from Oak Creek Canyon. I painted this in January on the drive back from the Grand Canyon. The southern sides of all the mountains had snow still on them. It made for a great opportunity to add a greater variety of cools in the shadows, and the little flecks of white highlights add a shimmering effect. 

On this trip I re-introduced Cerulean Blue Hue to my palette (Utrecht brand). It's a mixture of phthalo blue and white. It can be a very potent color, but because it's cut with white it's not quite as strong as regular phthalo. Cerulean Blue Hue is really useful for the sky right near the horizon, and for the cool reflected skylight on upward-facing shadowed planes. I also found myself grabbing a little bit when mixing greens. 

My palette: Cadmium yellow medium, cadmium orange, cadmium red light, alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, cerulean blue hue