Getting Higher…To the Desert, That Is - 7/7/23

I’d been saying for a couple years that it would be fun to explore the middle of the state sometime during the nicer weather months, so when Ryan announced he had joined the Navy and would be leaving for Boot Camp at the end of July I thought it would be fun to take a little road trip together. I had heard that the High Desert Museum and Smith Rock was worth visiting. So I booked a hotel room, gassed up the car, we packed our bags, and headed off one glorious summer morning.

The views didn’t disappoint! I had only wished we had gotten there earlier than late morning. It was already pretty warm and I knew I wouldn’t last long trying to go for a long, rigorous hike in those temps. We did go out quite a ways and then turned around. Buckets of sweat were involved!

Taking a break in a bit of shade….

I loved the textures out in the High Desert. Gnarled trees, lava rock, scrubby pines, sun bleached stones. I wanted to capture some of those textures in a landscape.

Crooked River looked beautiful and inviting!

Smith Rock standing tall like a sentinel. Really wanted to capture those beautiful colors in both a watercolor and a pastel landscape.

After I got home, it didn’t take long before I started my new landscape. I didn’t have a lot of experience painting rocks, so I knew that was going to be a challenge. Using the good quality Arches #300 Cotton paper really helped because it had great tooth that helped get the rough and gnarly texture portrayed in the painting.

Pretty far along in the process. I was still considering how many details to add and still keep the right perspective of grandeur.

Originally the finished the painting without any wildlife portrayed. After all, when we were there it was mid-day and there wasn’t a cloud nor bird in the sky. Overhead the vibrant, deep blue stretched as far as we could see and it was glorious! But in looking at the finished painting, it lacked life. I really felt like it needed some birds circling overhead to give it some added depth and breadth. So in the end, I went back and added the birds and was really happy with the finished look.