Ute Canyon Pouroff - 8x12"
Ute Canyon is the longest canyon in Colorado National Monument, and is a veritable treasure trove of painting ideas, both from within it and above it. At its upper end, the canyon shallows out quite a bit and the main park road parallels it for some distance before finally crossing it at the extreme upper end. I had been scouting the upper end of the canyon where the park road crosses it, and not finding too much to get excited about. I was strolling back to my truck when I chanced to glance up and behold this wonderful little spectacle. Serendipity is truly a plein-air painter's best friend!
STEP 1: LAY IN THE DESIGN
I usually begin, once I have spotted a potential subject, with several small graphite drawings, roughly 2 x 3". However, because of the late hour at which I began this piece, I skipped that step and jumped right into the canvas, using dirty turpentine and a bit of cadmium red medium to lay down the basic elements of my design.
STEP 2: BLOCKING IN
This subject possessed a wonderful abstract simplicity, so that became the starting point for my block in. I quickly work over the entire canvas, using three distinct values and colors to establish the primary notes and provide my baseline for mixing the variations that would define and resolve each area.
STEP 3: SHADOW PLAY
The largest area of the canvas, and most complex, is the shadowed area of the canyon floor in the lower half of the piece, so this becomes the focus of my effort. Paying particular attention to subtle temperature and value shifts, I begin introducing the color and temperature variations that will define the planes, highlights, and shadows in this geometrically fractured expanse of sandstone.
STEP 4: LIGHTEN UP
The light reflecting down from the sun struck canyon wall creates warm, subtle highlights on the canyon floor. I now resolve the entire area by adding the darkest shadows, then laying on the highlights. Foliage is added on the sandy bank, and I quickly resolve the specifics of that area.
STEP 5: CHASING THE SUN
With the light changing minute by minute, I don’t have a moment to spare. Working quickly out of the base color pool for the sunstruck area, I rough in the highlights on the canyon wall. In the few minutes it takes to do this, the sun disappears below the horizon, and throws this section of the canyon into shadow.
STEP 6: THE FINAL TOUCHES
Working mostly from memory now, the last color refinements are added to the highlight area, and then the shadows are pulled in using the same color I mixed for the foreground shadows. Darks and lights are added to the trees and streamside bushes, their edges softened and defined, and a few simple strokes define the rivulet of meltwater in the canyon bottom. Final touches are a hint of plain white and a cobalt blue-cadmium red medium mix for the upper part of the stream where it picked up some sky tone, and for the small foreground waterfall.
FINISHED!