Denali Reflections

It's been a typical winter here in Maryland, with snow, ice, and a bad cold spell in January. As we wait for spring, let us visit a place where winter lasts about half the year. Denali, in Alaska, is the tallest mountain in North America, and its peak is often shrouded in clouds. Here we see it looming above one of many local lakes and rivers carved by glaciers, its proud crown illuminated by the setting sun. Warm light hints of better days to come.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Welcome Mountain Snow

A straightforward scene celebrating the return of much-needed winter snow to the western mountains of the US. In the low light of winter, the wind swirls the snow between the pines before another blizzard descends upon the rocky peaks. 

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Sierra Nevada - Last Light

Inspired by my trip through the beauty of California in 2018, here we see the last light of day fall across the Sierra Nevada range. Only the mountains and tree tops are illuminated as shadows sweep across the rest of the wild landscape.

Acrylic landscape: 14" x 17"

Mackerel Mountain Sunset

 

Sunset comes to Appalachia under a mackerel summer sky. In a gap between the clouds, the low sun blazes brightly, illuminating everything in rays of light and colors. Soon, night will fall over this wild realm, but for now, enjoy the sunset.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Untamed Wilds

In the rolling mountains and wild forests, a cool autumn breezes whips through the trees. Limbs creak with age, and leaves are tossed on the wind, each a spark of fiery color that floats through the air. This painting was inspired by a mix of things, including fall in the mountains of the eastern United States to the artwork on an old Magic card by the same title as this painting. 

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Isolation - Humphreys Peak

The theme for the past month or so has been one of isolation and social distancing in an effort to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. So, I figured I'd paint a scene related to that theme based upon a photo taken on my most recent trip out west in last June. Here, we see Humphreys Peak in the distance - the tallest mountain in Arizona - from somewhere in the desolate, empty lands between Antelope Canyon and the Grand Canyon. While the mountain and the city of Flagstaff are both around 100 miles away in this view, there is basically nothing around us; it's about as "socially distant" as one can get. This painting was both challenging and easy to paint for the same reason - there's essentially nothing in the scene aside from crumbling desert rocks, some brush, and the distant mountains under floating clouds and a blue sky.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

From Glacier Point in Winter

This painting was inspired by my trip to Yosemite in 2018. Here, from the Glacier Point overlook, we see the high Sierra mountains in winter, with sunlight gleaming off Half Dome in the distance. Clouds float above, illuminated by the winter sun, the only warmth in this cold and wild landscape. This was an interesting painting since it ended up far more high-contrast and tonal than most of my works, but it's an accurate reflection of the overwhelming contrast between light and shadow on Half Dome most of the time.

Acrylic painting; 14" x 17"

Grandfather Mountain - autumn evening

In early October, I visited my brother and his family down in Charlotte, NC. While I was down there, we all took a day trip out to see Grandfather Mountain, a well-known site in western North Carolina. This impressive mountain has a double peak that is over a mile in elevation; while it was cloudy that day, it was still a great trip. We saw huge rocks, countless trees starting to turn fall colors, and hiked up a rocky trail to the swinging bridge near the top that is about a mile up. At the peak, even with the clouds, you can feel just how rugged and remote a place it is. We finished up at the visitor's center, which was large and very well maintained, complete with a cafeteria, museum, gift shop, and occasional live animal demos. This painting captures the rugged, split peak of this famous mountain in its autumn colors. If you're ever in the area of Grandfather Mountain, it is well-worth a visit.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Zion - Last Light

Zion National Park was the first one our tour group visited during my trip out to the American West in June of this year, and it is a place of great beauty. Colorful sandstone rocks set against an azure sky, all laced with green trees and plants ranging from cottonwoods to cactus. Above you, the cliffs tower, while all around you is life and beauty, nurtured by the Virgin River that flows through the park. Zion is also very accessible for a such an overwhelmingly pretty place, though this does lead to some crowding on nice days during the warmer seasons. Our hotel was right outside the park in Springdale, UT, and from my hotel room, I could go outside and watch the sun set on the canyon walls. Words and photos don't do it justice, so I've tried to capture those long sunsets in this painting.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Grand Canyon - South Rim sunset

I said I'd face the challenge of painting the Grand Canyon again, and so I did. This painting, interestingly, went far easier than the previous one of the canyon. I think a more traditional lighting angle and careful placement of the canyon walls made a huge difference and avoided the tangled maze of cliffs that I ran into last time. I'm very happy with how this painting turned out - I think it captures the tremendous size and depth of the Grand Canyon as well can be done in an average size landscape. The blazing light of sunset adds to the drama, and while I didn't actually get to see sunset at the Grand Canyon, I did see it at Zion, so I can appreciate how those cliffs glow with light; dappling light and shadow spots on the cliffs with a bit of horizontal patterning to the spots seemed to help, too. It's never easy painting something like this, but the results were worth it, IMHO.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17" (framed)

Grand Canyon overlook pines

In early June of this year, I went on a fun, guided tour through gAdventures and National Geographic (their "Discover American Canyonlands" tour), and we got to see: Zion, Bryce Canyon, Antelope Canyon, and the Grand Canyon. Inevitably, this led me to try to paint what I saw, which is no easy task. In the west, the landscapes are beautiful, but unforgiving to paint.

This particularly painting started out with a beautiful sky, but quickly turned to disaster. I had made the cardinal error of trying to paint a scene with the light behind me, as was in the reference photo I took. Normally, such a lighting choice is just a bad idea, but when painting canyons, it turns the landscape into a maze of impossible to define shapes – a tangle of light and shadow that easily turns into gibberish when painted. Humbled by the created mess, I painted over nearly the entire canyon with the purple-grey shadow color, and went off to the internet to do some research. There, I found paintings from people with impossible levels of skill who could actually paint the Grand Canyon with the light over their shoulder and with every rock defined, but I needed some ideas more to my skill level. Eventually, I turned to a classic technique and swung the light around to the left and lower in the sky. This allowed me to define each mesa and butte with simple light and shadow while at the same time provided some more interesting colors to the scene.

In the end, I think this painting turned out reasonably well, but it’s hard to say for sure. The Grand Canyon is so large, complex, and challenging to paint – I came up with something decent after plenty of mistakes, but I’ll have to revisit this place in a future painting to see what I else I can do with it.

Acrylic painting: 14” x 17”

Autumn Aspen Climb

Aspen trees are a symbol of the mountain west in America; these beautiful pioneer trees form massive groves across middle elevations and cooler climates. The root systems can live for centuries, and they turn a distinctive golden color in the fall. Aspens are also rather challenging to paint. Their bright golden leaves risk disappearing against the sky, hence the need for strong blues and darker mountains, and the pale bark of the trees offers little contrast against the yellow foliage. Finally, the bark patterns are distinctive and the technically white bark really reflects colors around it and should never be painted stark white. In all, they are beautiful, symbolic, and tough trees to paint well; I hope this painting has captured their majesty accurately.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Yosemite Tunnel View - OLD

This is another painting of the stunning landscapes I saw out west early this summer as I toured the national parks of California. The Tunnel View Overlook is one of the most famous overlooks in Yosemite National Park, a classic scene for painters and photographers alike. There is no way to capture the overwhelming scale and beauty of Yosemite, or really any of the mountainous west. All I can do is to try and depict the immense spaces, towering cliffs, and stunning light as I saw them, but to truly understand this place, you must go there yourself and see it.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Trail Ridge Road Aspens in Fall

As part of the solar eclipse trip I went on back in August, our tour group also got to spend a day in Rocky Mountain National Park. It was an amazing experience, particularly since I had never really seen large mountains before. As we rode the tour bus up Trail Ridge Road, aspen trees were everywhere at the middle elevations. Higher up, they faded away and were replaced with an ever-shrinking evergreen forest, which finally turned to tundra at the treeline. Here, we see the aspen groves, growing in little clumps as they do, in fall.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17" (framed)

Storm-tossed Mountain

On a rocky, distant world, the low afternoon light streaks across jagged mountains and illuminates far-off storm clouds. Lightning flashes in the distance, a stark reminder of the primordial nature of this realm. Part of my MTG: basic lands series.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17" (framed)

Autumn touches Skyline Drive

At the end of August, I went on a business trip to Charlottesville, Virginia to teach an engineering class. On the way back, I stopped off at Skyline Caverns and Skyline Drive. It was beautiful sight, looking out across the rolling mountains and valleys; I hadn't been there in over a decade, so it was well worth the trip. Here, we see Skyline Drive as the first brush of autumn passes over it, turning the vines, shrubs, and trees red, orange, and gold.

Acrylic painting; 14" x 17"

Antietam peaceful field

Two weeks ago, I finally visited Antietam National Battlefield, out in the mountains and rolling fields of western Maryland. It was a great trip, and the park is peaceful and beautiful with nice hiking trails and great views of the nearby mountains. Fortunately, it was a relatively cool day since there's not a lot of shade there - bring a hat and sunscreen. This view is from a point just a bit south of the main road in from Boonsboro, looking east towards the mountains. When you see the battlefield now, it is hard to believe that such carnage took place in such a tranquil place.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Cliffside Lightning

Low angled light cuts across the mountain peaks as dark clouds gather in the distance. Lightning flashes, thunder rolls, and in the wavering breeze, we can feel the first storm of spring.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Misty Mountain Cherries

Spring is here, bringing with it new life and a mix of colors both subtle and bold. Warm, wet weather rolls through the mountains, as leaves appear and the cherry trees burst into bloom.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Death Valley Wildflowers

A recent news article I read about the wildflowers of Death Valley inspired this painting. When the springs rains come, as they have recently, the desert erupts in clouds of gold and purple wildflowers. This year has been a particularly good year thanks to relatively ample rainfall, and it is a welcome change from winter.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"