Utah Highlands

Utah Highlands
8" x 6" oil on canvas panel
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I (think) the reference photo for this painting was taken somewhere along US Highway 12 between Capital Reef National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah.  It has been a few years since my wife and I toured all of the national parks in Colorado and Utah and some of the images run together.  All I know is that it was beautiful and highway 12 through Utah is one of the most spectacular drives I have ever taken.  I love this painting; the photo turned out ok, but I promise it looks better in person.  The highlights on the branches of the birch trees and the the warm shadows on the trunks are some of my best work.  I think I've made some breakthroughs lately.  When you focus on value and color, the details work themselves out. 

Sevier River, Utah

Sevier River, Utah
8" x 6" oil on canvas panel
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This is the view along the Sevier River from the intersection of route 12 and route 89 near Bryce Canyon, Utah.  Sort of.  I've been thinking about painting from this image for a long time, but it needed some adjusting to work, compositionally, as a painting.  The house in the top left quadrant is not really there, but I tried to make it the main focus by using the highest value white and putting the darker shadowed trees around it.  I Google Street viewed the scene again before I started to write this post, and it brought back some nice memories from our trip out west a few years back.