yosemite landscape

Here's some studies of Yosemite National Park from awhile back. I usually visit the park at least a couple times a year and I never get sick of it. However it is so majestic that it becomes such a daunting task for me to capture it. It becomes a matter of how well I can simplify. I'm going to string a few studies from different trips on this post just to show variety of approaches.

gouache on board.




ink and watercolor wash.



tombo markers




watercolors

Joshua Tree

I had no idea what to expect but a couple of nights camping at Joshua Tree National Monument and my perception of the dessert landscape has changed forever. Why didn't anybody tell me about this place years ago!!! We had some fantastic hikes with awesome payoffs, experienced an explosion of color in the spring dessert, tromped through some completely surreal landscapes, listened to the coyotes howl at the moon, and stayed up late just to stargaze. I can't go back there soon enough.

Here are some of the sketches from the trip. I couldn't paint at the "magic" hour so all the lighting was fairly flat. I decided to approach it with a different perspective and paint more of how i feel about what I'm seeing.

Spring colors and Joshua Trees.



Hidden Valley...a view of the actual valley after scrambling to the top of some of the rocks.



rockclimber.




on the trail.




dust.