Original artwork description:

Exploring western canyonlands throughout the Owyhees, Zion National Park, the Grand Canyon, Hells Canyon, the Escalante Grand Staircase, and hopefully a few more before winter arrives, has been a theme for my travels this year.  Oil paint and the desert share many commonalities: both holding innate beauty, sometimes subtle and seductive, other times bold and vibrant. Both desert and oil paint whisper and sing with color harmonies, interesting shapes, and compositions unique to their individual settings.  No wonder one region is called the Painted Desert! In painting Deep Reflections, I allowed tones found in nature to enhance each other, playing with various hues on my palette knife to create atmospheric contrasts, as well as multiple strata in desert rocks.  The cool water in desert canyon country contrasts sharply with the landscape, yet is stunningly reflective of its surroundings (at least where it flows calmly).

Materials used:

Graham oil paints applied with palette knife and brushes

Tags:

#rock strata #various hues #oil painting #river #palette knife #vibrant #travel #desert #water reflections #southwest #subtle #desert southwest #color harmonies #southwest landscape painting #cool water