"Blue Mountain Shadows" 11" x 8" watercolor
I have been painting in Red Rock Canyon for the past couple of weeks as the weather is in the mid -80s with little wind. This is a nice time of year here in Las Vegas for painting en plein air. This painting is on Arches hot press from a block and you can see from the photo of my set-up below that I use masking tape on the edges of the paper as the tape helps to control the buckling of the paper when it is soaking from wet-into-wet washes. My windshield sunshade comes in handy clipped to my pochade box to keep the sun off the paper and palette. The desert is blooming again - our second spring - so I wanted to capture the beautiful yellows in the arroyo contrasting with the atmospheric blues in the distant Spring Mountains.
There were lots of people enjoying the park this past Sunday when I painted this. Many rock climbers to watch on the Calico Hills behind me. Park volunteers set up at the trailheads to give information to all the hikers. It is so calm and peaceful up in the desert and is a nice change from the hustle and bustle of the city.
