"January Heat"
9x12, pastel
Schnebly Hill, just up the road from uptown, offers spectacular, close-up views of Sedona's red rocks and long views of the Oak Creek valley. It's a great place to spend the entire day, since you have 360 degrees of subject matter. No matter which direction the sun is in, there's always something to paint. I call it a "rich" painting location. Such a place gets high marks in my book, since it's always dependable - and that's important when teaching workshops.
The shadows on the rocks around Schnebly Hill are ever-shifting. If you look at each rock formation in two-hour periods, you'll see that the shadows are always on the move. Every two hours you get a different painting. I could pitch a tent up there and paint five paintings a day for 365 days, and no two paintings would be alike.
I suggest to plein air painters that they find a "rich" painting spot near them. Painting there frequently will be like hanging out with an old friend, but with an old friend who can still spring a surprise. It'll be a place you can return to again and again, and always enjoy the moment.
