Grand Canyon - Finished

Managed to get a finishing session with this. Took down the rocks on the right with a little grey so that they didn't attract attention away from the focal area. Then I added one or two bits of detail and I think I'm going to call it finished, time to move on to something new.

Grand Canyon Update

Got a couple of hours at this and hopefully made some progress. The first job was to alter the main mesa to take away the impression that it shared an edge with the one behind. Thanks to Bill Cramer for spotting that. I did some work on the relative values and changed some of the shadow work. There are one or two things to sort before it's finished, the main one being to take down a little the bluff on the right of the picture. After that a handful of small details should complete it.

Grand Canyon - Oil on canvas board 20" x 16"

Grand Canyon WIP

I've begun working on this 20" x 16" oil from one of the images that I made on our recent trip. It's a difficult piece because of its complexity and having spent a couple of sessions on it I'm having to leave it for two days because of other commitments so I've posted it as a work in progress, hoping that someone might give me a push in the next direction.

At last I'm getting a little closer to creating a reasonable range of values, indeed that was where I began this piece, blocking in the shadows. The blocking in process is so important in establishing the foundation for an adequate painting and I am thankful to the example of a number of colleagues on Wet Canvas for the input of their expertise. For anyone interested the web sites of Michael McGuire and Larry Seiler have helpful posts showing their works in progress. They make great learning pieces.

Over to you, how can I improve this?

Grand Canyon - Oil on canvas board 20" x 16

Mittens at Daybreak

A view known to us all from years of watching Westerns. On our stay in Monument Valley it was impossible not to be drawn back here time after time.

Mittens at Daybreak - Oil on canvas board 12" x 10"

Red Rock Crossing

Well, here we are again, back from a two month round the world trip and chomping at the bit to get back into the painting rhythm. I had little opportunity to paint whilst away but returned with lots of sketches and photographs for source material. If you are interested in the itinerary for the trip I wrote a blog on the road and you can find it at www.carneysontour.blogspot.com . In there I mention a couple of painting related tales, like the day I was painting in the Cathedral Square and people started to put money down next to my palette, must have looked particularly in need of TLC that day.

This is the first effort since returning, a quick oil sketch of one the many beautiful places we visited.

Red Rock Crossing - Oil on canvas board 12" x 10"