'The Afternoon View'. 5x7. Pastel
This trip takes me back 15 years. We took the kids out west on a three week adventure visiting many of the Southwestern National parks. Back then I wasn't a painter. I had taken up photography and was fresh out of a landscape photography course. This land spoke to me and I tried my best to capture it on Fillmore (slide film that is)
The sun ruled our day. In a good way though. We planned meals around sunrise and sunset and rested midday. We goy the best light and photos this way. We seem to be falling into the same rhythm on this trip. Last night we staked out a spot to watch the sunset. We were early so it didn't look promising. But as the sun sank slowly the light got better and when it finally set, the magic in the sky began.
Last night's sunset at Monument Valley
This morning we rose before the sun.....5:30. We could watch the sunrise from our balcony so it was so convenient to take out my box and try to capture the sunrise with my pastels. It was so dark I couldn't see my colors so I just won't by value. It was exciting and fun to paint in my pajamas!
Today we took a wonderful tour into monument valley with Clint from Monument Valley Safaris. He knew we wanted great photo spots so he took us to them and pointed out some of the really special spots. He was soft spoken and ver knowledgable and gave us a real feeling of the Navajo culture. He ended the tour by chanting a playing the flute....a truly memorable experience.
By the way a landscape photography course is a great way to learn about composition and it can really help your paintings!
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