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| These gouache sketches are all 5x8 and painted en plein air. |
If you've been following my blog over the years, you'll probably think “Canyon” refers to Grand Canyon. Well, yes, I've painted there many, many times, and it is always a rewarding challenge. Lately, however, I've been exploring a different canyon. This one is just a ten-minute hike from my studio, across cactus-studded fields, along sandstone ridges and into woods of pinyon, scrub oak and ponderosa pine. It's become one of my favorite places.
I've been using gouache on these afternoon expeditions and sketching “sunlight on rocks.” The canyon runs somewhat east-west, so there is a south wall, which is shaded and lush, and a north wall, which is neither. Years of the strong New Mexican sun have made the north wall inhospitable to vegetation, so there I can clearly see the layers of orange, red and yellow sandstone. The afternoon sun creates dramatic tableaus of light and shadow among the overhangs and cracks.
Once I'm settled—always on the south wall where I can find a shaded rock to lay my cushion on—I spread out my kit and have at it. The beautiful song of a canyon wren, recently returned to the area, cascades like a gentle waterfall. (Here's what a canyon wren sounds like.) The Gila woodpecker, flashing its red patch, dashes out of the shadows and gets busily to work on an old snag. Rising from the deep tub that forms the canyon's terminus, a huge ponderosa pine lifts its boughs in the breeze. The earthy fragrance of the canyon gathers around me as the afternoon warms up. Sometimes it's hard not to get drunk on this sensory brew and just sit there, looking, not sketching.
This past week, we had snow. We had nearly a foot of it, heavy and wet. In two days, the sun melted nearly all of it, but snow still decorated the shaded south wall of the canyon. I wanted to sketch it before it all melted, so I hiked out despite the muddy, slippery trail. The trip was worth it.
I thought you might like to see some of these gouache sketches. They are all 5x8 and bound in my little journal. They aren't for sale, but if you have a hankering for one of them, I'd be happy to paint for you a larger version in either oil or pastel. I'll be doing more of these and posting them to my Instagram account. Also, if you're interested in my gouache kit, you can see what I use in this post, one I wrote as I was packing for a trip to Scotland.
