Rocks, sky and sagebrush - plein air in pastel

A minimalist piece, of sorts, from this afternoon [edit:  re-done version posted on 5/18]*

Skyward Sagebrush - plein air
12x12 inches, pastel on brown cardstock

Finally, some time to get out and paint.  Between the odd storm weather that moved in for the better part of last week, followed by visiting relatives, my plans to get out and paint had to be put on hold until today.

We took Wayne's parents, who live in Phoenix, up to the cool 9,000' mining town of Silverton for a good part of the day.  After we got back, I grabbed my gear and beat it out to Santa Rita Park to at least get something done in the way of filling a sheet of paper in with pastel.

Sort of reminiscent of the recent painting done in Utah, this features a rock outcropping and sagebrush. It's along a dirt trail that heads off of the Animas River Trail a few hundred meters past the park and skirts the Animas river to the east and above.  I looked up to the top of the rock outcropping, saw these, and knew instantly that I had to paint them.

*I normally don't offer up critiques and/or point out shortcomings in my paintings here on the blog.  However, in this case I feel compelled to point out that the clouds bother me.  They are always a challenge to paint on location as they are in constant flux, and I'm always fighting to keep them from looking contrived, or just plain funky.  I knew I wanted them to come from the upper right to balance the elements in the lower left, but they aren't working for me.  Too lacy, too convoluted - I'm not sure.  I do know that I want to, er...need to, to rework them.  Simplify, simplify!


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From the Silverton trip:

A bighorn sheep yearling along Hwy 550, curious but unafraid
of me and the camera

Andrews Lake

Wayne and his parentals in Silverton, because I do occasionally
take photos of people!

A spring trip to Moab - pastel landscape

This past Wednesday, we headed to Moab to enjoy spring in the southern Utah canyon country...

Spring in Negro Bill Canyon
12x12 inches, pastel on black cardstock
© 2012, S.Johnson

Early April is a glorious time to be in Moab; the trees in town are blooming, and the cottonwoods and oak that line the canyons are well into greening up for the season.  Weather is warm and dry, and the deerflies and mosquitos are not out yet.

This scenic canyon, located off Hwy 128 and a few miles from Moab, is named after a mixed race cowboy, William Granstaff, who prospected and ran cattle here in the late 1870's.  I hiked the trail to this canyon a short distance while here for Moab Plein Air, but the painting I started never went anywhere.

I actually did bring my plein air gear along on this trip, both my French easel, and my hiking get-up, just because I really wanted to paint on location while we were here.  Despite hiking about 8 miles total on Wednesday in both Negro Bill and Hunter Canyons, paintings didn't happen:  needing to sit to paint definitely limits one's options.  So, I got many photos, and will do a quick mini-series of studio "spring in Moab" paintings, starting with this one.  Best of all, I scouted some brand-new locations for painting at this year's Moab Plein Air, which I am planning on attending.

Wednesday's weather was ideal for hiking - sunny and no wind.  Thursday we'd planned to spend the day on another long hike up Courthouse Wash, which leads into Arches NP.  Thursday morning, however, the sky was overcast and temperatures were actually chilly and not inviting for a hike, so we decided to drive up to Dead Horse State Park and check that out.  Nice views, but not so much in those conditions for taking photos, and it's not a location I'd probably ever choose to paint.

Eventually, the cloud cover broke, and we did do a hike up Courthouse Wash.  Remarkably, we didn't see another soul during our 6-mile hike along this trail.  As is always the case on hikes, I'm constantly assessing the painting potential, including both logistics of getting there with gear, as well as suitability for a successful painting.

As is usually the case, the best photos I save to share here, and others become reference for paintings.  Sometimes, there is cross-over, but not so much in this case:

Beautiful red paintbrush along the trail 

Another fork along Negro Bill

Cottonwood shadows

Slickrock puddle reflections in Hunter Canyon

A view of the meandering Colorado from Dead Horse Point

Wild turkey hens near the Courthouse Wash trailhead

Hiking on Courthouse Wash trail

Sandstone boulder pile

Along the edge of the trail

A trip to the Botanical Gardens and Butterfly exhibit

Back from Phoenix.  No painting on this trip - the landscape there didn't inspire at all.  

The highlight of our trip was spending a day at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix.  Thanks to a recent post on a crafter/photography blog I follow, I learned of the Butterfly Pavillion there, so of course, I had to go for that, as butterflies are quite possibly my favorite subject to photograph.

However, as seems befitting of my luck at such times, the autofocus on my telephoto lens decided this was a perfect time to crap out.   Trying to shoot small, detailed moving objects with manual focus and vision that isn't what it used to be resulted in a large percentage of out of focus and otherwise poor photos.   Now that my less-than-three-year-old Nikkor lens is a glorified paperweight, I'm going to upgrade to a better version.

Some interesting things we learned about the Butterfly Pavillion:  it is classified as a containment exhibit, which means that none of the butterflies, including those indigenous to the region, are raised there.  All come from butterfly farms, and are overnighted to the facility after they emerge from their pupas, in chilled containers.  In fact, a shipment arrived while we were there, and everyone who wanted was able to participate in the release of the butterflies.

They arrive in glassine envelopes, wings folded, usually two per envelope for smaller species.  To release them, the edge of the envelope is torn off, the top and other side opened.  As the sun warms them, they begin to move and will either fly or crawl out to a nearby flower.  Volunteers with synthetic feather dusters go around and pick up those that fly to the ground so they don't get stepped on.

Anyway, until I finish up my latest studio painting, here are some photos of the butterfly exhibit.  I'll post some of the botanical images later.

Male Queen butterfly on unopened yellow columbine

Pair of Julia Heliconians - a tropical longwing - on a bromeliad

Zebra Heliconinan - a tropical butterfly native to southern FL

Common Buckeye - a striking member of the Brushfoot family found throughout much of the southern US

Painted Lady butterfly - one of the most common butterflies in the US

Male Pipevine Swallowtail on petunia

Zebra Heliconinan - top view 

Female Pipevine Swallowtail

Winter landscape - river boulders, pastel

A pile of rocks, dead grasses, shadows, and some ice...

Boulders and Shadows
12x12 - pastel on black cardstock
© S.Johnson

Taken a few days before we had our recent snow, this is a small inlet off the main river that, facing north, managed to hang on to a surprising amount of snow.

That serpentine shadow running across the ice and disappearing into the shadowed area?  Wayne didn't much care for it, but it is from an unseen tree, and it fascinated me, so I kept it.  This was a good painting to work with lost and found edges - something I find myself enjoying when I look at paintings.

And, there's black in this painting.  Many artists/instructors will say that one should avoid values 8-10 (with 0 = pure white and 10= pure black), but as with all things, there are exceptions.  Shadows within shadowed areas are black.  Judicious use of black also helps define the relative values of the rocks and gives them proper depth.

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Here are a few photos from some of my recent "duck hunts" down by the river.  I always say that if you're having a crummy day, just go watch some ducks.  You'll feel better.

Mallard pair
He has just finished a "yoga stretch" with his right foot.  How on earth they can handle standing and sleeping in water that is just a few degrees above freezing is beyond me, but they clearly enjoy cold winters.

Common Goldeneyes taking flight
These are very striking birds, but extremely wary; any approach towards the edge of the river and they take off

Balancing act
Okay, not a duck, but this Canada goose and its mate were both one-legging it on some exposed rocks close to shore

Squadron of Common Goldeneye - two males and several ladies
Taken from well above the river, this is the best in-water photo I could get of them.

Winter landscape - A still life, of sorts

Intersection
11x14 inches
pastel on acid-free construction paper

I'm not sure precisely all the reasons I'm drawn to such ordinary scenes like this one, but I am.  This is also the type of thing that I would love to have painted on location, but given that this was in about 15" of snow and at least 1/2 mile down the road to Haviland Lake, which was closed to vehicle traffic, that wasn't happening.  Perhaps one of these days, I'll snowshoe in to paint on location, but not for this.

The reference photo for this was taken on Christmas day, while I was out snowshoeing.  It was a bright, sunny day with no wind.  Just perfect.  The low angle of the sun at this time of the year and mid-afternoon light of winter produces the most amazing shadows.

Here are a few other photos from the day, which was a loop including roads and a trail:

Beautiful crystals of ice form on a small creek along the trail

Creek reflections

Cattails along the edge of Haviland Lake

Sweeping tree shadows across the frozen lake

This Red Squirrel [Tamiasciurus hudsonicus] was extremely put out by my presence.    He is giving me the stink eye from high up in a Ponderosa pine 25 feet away - hilarious!

Back from the Valley in the Sun

We had an enjoyable time down in southern AZ, enjoying the mild, sunny weather that the desert region is known for at this time of the year, and thankfully no travel mishaps (bad weather and accidents usually being the issues).

Our lodging location plans changed due to logistical reasons - namely, that the White Tanks Regional Park we'd planned to spend the trip closes its entrance after 8 p.m., which wasn't going to work for us.  So, my plans to try and get some painting in most days also changed.

But, on Wednesday afternoon, we did manage a trip out to the area north of town so that I could paint.

Morgan City Wash
12x12 inches - pastel on light brown cardstock
© S.Johnson

We decided to go back to an area we'd hiked on Christmas day last year, near Lake Pleasant.  Lake Pleasant is a large reservoir that serves both as a recreational area for boaters and as one of the water sources for the sprawling cities of the Phoenix area.  Water from the Colorado River via the CAP canal also flows into the lake.

Last year on our hike, we discovered this neat wash right off one of the roads leading to the lake, which is apparently popular with the OHV crowd and people who like to shoot at things, at least based on the number of empty shotgun shells littering the wash near the road.  Looking on the AZ Gazetteer, I discovered this particular wash has a name, albeit a puzzling one.

More interesting, however, are the wild burros that also inhabit the area.  We didn't see any on this hike, although we did hear some braying off in the distance, quite possibly this same trio of bachelor jacks I photographed last year:

I've only ever painted the Sonoran desert landscape from photos, and only a couple of paintings at that. It certainly presents its own unique challenges, especially at this time of the year when the vegetation is in its somewhat drab winter state.

And unlike the last wash I painted in Farmington, which was comprised of sand from the sandstone cliffs, these washes are often formed from completely different rock, often volcanic and more gravelly in appearance, that washes from great distances during flash floods.

Looking back through last year's photos, I realized when I got back yesterday that I had taken a photo of the exact same location I chose for this painting!  Clearly, it struck a chord with me.  It was a good thing I brought my backpacking straps along, because this was a mile from the car.

Normally, I don't post reference photos that I paint from, because it's just not that interesting.  But, this is different, and it was interesting to see that, well, not that much has changed here in a year.  The main difference is that - ironically - there is more green in the Dec photo.  And, it was taken earlier in the day.

Christmas Day in the desert

Nelson enjoys the ultimate in cat TV:  the view from the RV 

A Prelude to Fall - San Juan Mountains

The summer continues to blaze by, and feels like it's rapidly drawing to a close.  There is a sense of urgency to cram in as much outdoor activity as possible in the high country before the season ends.

Two painting excursions - to Lemon and Haviland Lakes - in the past week have resulted in unfinished paintings that may or may not make it to completion.  One has promise; the other not so much.   Lately, it seems my creative energy has been focused through the lens of my camera rather than my pastels and paper.  So, I have to run with it.

Today, a trip back up to hike and fish along west Lime Creek.  Since our last trip a month ago, the deerflies have finally been knocked back, the summer alpine meadows are transitioning away from green towards the golden browns of fall, and a new round of mountain wildflowers is making an appearance.

August 30 in photos:

Cascading falls along Lime Creek

Raspberries along the trail - tasting as good as they look

A marmot casts a wary and scornful glance from his look-out point below the trail

A tiny Arctic Blue nourishes itself on a Showy Daisy

Mountain Gentian, filterized

Mushrooms, everywhere!

Monsoon skies

Approaching Teec Nos Pos - graphite on paper

Approaching Teec Nos Pos

9x12 - graphite on sketchpad

So, today was one of those days I felt inclined to sit down and draw.   Drawing skills, aside from being an absolute necessary skill for painters, are something that I suspect many of us don't practice enough.  I'm always in awe of the artists whose blogs I follow who regularly post drawings they do, either as the beautiful loose field sketches of Sherrie Y or more detailed renderings in colored pencil, such as William (Bill) Cook.

I'm in a slight lull as far as my sense of direction goes for painting.  It's not really an artistic block, but more like being overwhelmed by the possibilities and all the things I want to accomplish.  Yesterday, we took an afternoon trip to Haviland Lake, and I brought along my gear (noting to leave the heavy French easel at home), excited about getting out to paint.  And, I painted, but it didn't go anywhere, and I felt my concentration sort of slip away as things just didn't come together.  But, that was totally okay - it was good practice to try and paint the ever-changing reflections on the lake.

Ever since we got back from AZ, I've been itching to do a new roadrtrip series based on the photos I took.  It seems that Hwy 160 is my artistic muse, always beckoning with that constantly changing landscape that draws me in every time.  I see the same features, and structures, and even creatures, on each trip, yet they never get old.  

So, I thought I'd at least dip a toe in that proverbial bathtub and do a drawing of what will be one of the first paintings in the series...whenever I decide to start them.  It is of this long sweeping stretch of highway that is just east of that small Navajo community Teec Nos Pos, and a few miles west of the actual Four Corners monument.  

The drawing thing was good.  I like it because, unlike painting, I can draw right at my computer, and listen to my favorite songs on my YouTube playlist.  After getting into "the zone", it's great.  Drawing with pencil is a very disciplined thing - you can't be lazy and use color.  It's all about value.  Since this particular image doesn't have a great deal of value range, that made it a bit difficult.    And, it took me longer to do this drawing, which isn't much to write home about, than it does to do a painting of the same size.  It was exceedingly difficult to photograph as well.  

But, it was just what I needed today.

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On an unrelated note, I was delighted to find out that all 3 of the photos I entered in the county fair last week won ribbons!  And, both of the paintings took blues and reserve champions, but there weren't many entries this year, so it wasn't quite as exciting as the photography wins.

Here are two of the three photos - both entered in the "Wild Animal" category in the Adult Intermediate division:

"Melissa Blue"

10x8 inches

First Place and Reserve Champion in its category

"Bramble Hairstreak"

8x10 inches

Second Place

Both shot with my entry level Nikon D40, Nikkor 55-200mm DX AF lens, and printed at Walmart's 1 hr. photo lab.  Just in case anyone thinks it's all about having expensive DSLR's and high-end glass...it's not.

Lemon Reservoir and the Florida River - pastel, plein air

Another great day spent enjoying the perfect weather and painting...

Along the Florida 

12x12 inches

pastel on black Strathmore

Today's trip was to Lemon Reservoir, which is about 15 miles east of Durango, along the same road that leads to Vallecito Reservoir.  The Florida river (pronounced Floor-EE-da) runs down from the mountains and into the reservoir, and there is a day use area with lots of parking right where it enters, which was ideal.

I was lucky to sit in the shade of some cottonwood trees to paint this view looking upstream.  Decided to try a square format for it, partially for grins, and partially because I didn't have any sheets trimmed to the usual 9x12.   I think it worked pretty well, although I see I need to adjust the right shoreline a bit...it is a bit too sloped.  

After I finished, I wandered back up and decided to do a view of the lake itself, using the 1:2 format boards, which I'm totally into now:

Looking Across Lemon

8x16 inches

pastel on 4-ply board with Golden pumice/black acrylic ground

The dam of the reservoir is situated in the left 1/3 of the painting (purposely), right behind the tip of the pine-covered slope.  I liked the group of rocks in the foreground and the solo shoreline tree on the right bank, so I kept those in the painting.  The grassy meadows were so many different shades of greens, with reddish-brown grasses, which required some creativity to render with my plein air palette.  

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And, now, more reasons to always carry one's camera on these painting trips...

While driving down the dirt road, which follows the eastern shore of the lake, to this location, I encountered a most unusual site:

"Where is mom?"

Sheep!  A herd of a few hundred, at least.  Ewes and lambs were pouring off the side of the hill and onto the road, right before the dam.  They were slowly heading in the same direction I was.  I shot a few photos from my car window while waiting for the stream of ovines to break so I could continue on.  

After I finished the first painting, I took a break and walked around with my camera before heading back up to the main parking area, and I noticed this Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularia), running back and forth down to the edge of the river.  What a cute little thing he is:

Tons of butterflies, but I only got photos of two:

Common Branded skipper

Unidentified - a Frittilary species? - on one of the many species of fleabane daisies

About the time I was heading up with my gear, I heard the unmistakable sounds of...sheep!  In the 1-2 hrs. that I'd passed them, the herd had caught up.  Some had wandered down the trail and were grazing right by the lake:

At the parking area, which is separated from the dirt road by a grassy field, this is what we see:

Lambs everywhere!  

I had no idea there were this many sheep in CO

And, now, following up behind to keep everything in order and moving - a Border Collie:

Along with a Great Pyreneese following up the rear: 

And finally...one of the three sheepherders, as the flock disappeared up the road:

Partners

Honestly, this is a big part of the reason I enjoy the plein air trips.  The wildlife, butterflies, and the unexpected events like these sheep just add to the experience, and I'd have missed all of it if I decided to stay inside and paint.  

Of course, I love taking these photos, and sharing them with you all.  I hope you enjoy them, and the story that goes with them.