Zion National Park, Utah

 A few pictures of Zion National Park.  I've been there many times and am always in awe of the beauty of the Park.  There are so many trails you can take, and even on a hot day you can find a canyon that is nice and cool.

I've been on the edge of cliffs with sheer dropoffs of probably a thousand feet.  I've hiked up creeks and river, under waterfalls and through small ponds.  I've also trod across trails that are so hot and dusty it seemed like I would burn up.

Here are a few sketches of Zion.  The Narrows.  The Watchman.  Angels Landing.

I can't wait until I can go back again.  it is such and amazing place.

If you are interested, I've got some videos too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4wMGGgQ85E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJhk51mCFL4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdiWcqOLMQc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTYS2o5zbnw

Zion National Park

I've painted this picture before.  It was when I was just starting out in watercolors.  I spent hours drawing, and painting and fussing over it.  I tried hard to make something that would look nice, but in the end,  I think, I ended with a giant mess. 

So, over the weekend, I was going through some old works of mine and found this picture in the bottom of a drawer.  I thought I could paint it again to see how I could do.  This time, however, I handicapped myself.   

I went to my studio, only to find that my daughter and her friend had ransacked the place.  It took far too long to put back together.  So when all was said and done, I only had a very short amount of time to paint.  No Drawing for me.  Gonna have to paint wet into wet.  

Starting at the top, with a light orange wash, and changing to darker oranges and greens and grays as I made my way to the bottom.  The second wash saw me start in the very back with the same light wash.  Then onto the middle cliff,  a little more intensity.  The front was, of course the most intense.  Cliff walls done, it was on to the trees.  A little patter of green here and there.  A little grey for some water.  then wait just a sec and zip in some lines for tree trunks.  

I know its not high art, but given the time that I had to do it, I don't think its half bad.  And given that the first go round I did of this painting took many many hours, and doesn't look any better, I think its great.

Angel's Landing

Some good and some bad on this painting.  Lets start with the good.

I was gonna do a dark sky, or at least darker, but when I saw how this one turned out after only one layer of paint, I liked it so much I stopped.  And knowing what the sky looks like in Zion most of the time, there are no clouds anyway, so the sky seems about right.  The next thing that is really good, I think, are the mountains in the background.  They really do look like they are far away.  Just enough detail so you can see a few crevasses in the rocks, but not too much detail that its out of place.  I really like them.

Now for the not so good.  I don't think i got quite the right shape of this hill.  It is, in general, dome-ish, which I got, but somehow its not quite right.  I might go back and see if I cant make the far side of the path fall off just a bit, maybe that will help it look like it is rounder.

I might go back and pencil in some chains like on the real pathway, but I don't have time to do it today, but wanted to get this picture up.  If I make changes, I'll repost.  Hope you all enjoy.