Sunday's Painting

Now for my other project.  Sunday I was able to paint the rest of the surface of the larger canvas that I started a few weeks ago. It is the last of this series of Canyon de Chelley paintings although it may not signal that I am finished with the subject. As I'm sure you can tell, that trip made a powerful impression on me.  Those colors, the history, the ruins, the people - all of it was immensely moving.

Here is what I accomplished:

There is a difference as I'm sure you notice in the way I applied the paint in the foreground (canyon wall at the left and hill across the lower portion of the center and right). First, the two areas are in shadow even though they are in the foreground. Second, because they are closer to the viewer, you can see the rough texture of the rocks in the cliff and the layers of soil on the flattish hill.

To make a real contrast between the foreground and the distant cliffs that are in the sunlight, I applied the paint as smoothly as I could and then went back over it using the palatte knife to scrape the paint down. Not only did that smooth the paint, it also mixed it more than I usually do.  It gives the cliffs almost a curtain effect, don't you think?  But they are curtains without any folds; in the smoothing, I lost the depths where the cliffs have "folds".  Something to replace next painting day.   Still it makes a good backdrop. 

While I'm pleased with what I have so far, I think the hill is going to be too high for my purposes. I may have to reduce it, but I'll wait until the paint is dry enough for me to mentally sketch out the details I intend to add before making a decision about the prominence of that hill. However, I'm quite happy with the strong contrast between light and dark.

I hope the canyon walls seem to glow for you as they do for me in my memory.