Four Corners & Colorado Plateau series - #2 & 3

Two more done today for this series.   My plan is to keep all of these as alla prima pieces and not re-work any, lest I get bogged down in trying to fix mistakes; it's best just to recognize the issues and try to avoid them in the next painting.   I'm also not overly concerning myself with composition issues at the moment; I'm choosing photos where the composition is interesting enough to me to warrant painting it.

I actually completed 4 paintings today, including a larger one on canvas paper of Church Rock, and a still life of sorts.  It was fun, so I will probably mix up the landscapes with other subjects and post them as groups.

For now, here are the next two.  Clouds for both are from memory and rather spontaneously painted, which is probably quite obvious.

Cottonwood View  - #2

5x7 inches

oil on gessoed card

Cottonwoods against weathered Navajo sandstone rock indicate the presence of water in this arid climate.  I'm sort of starting to figure out the best sequence to add the various elements and not turn everything into an overblended mess.  

Towards the Rise - #3

5x7 inches

oil on gessoed card

Heading west along Hwy 160, the road takes many curves and undulations through washes and over small elevations on the plateau.  Need to work on the cloud placement for sure.   Those yellow highway marks are a challenge to get right, and mistakes aren't easily corrected.  Better luck next time on that.