Washoe Valley, Nevada
8"x10", oil on linen panel
This location is just above Deadman's Creek Trail, south of Washoe Lake State Park. Another fine afternoon for painting, a small granite lizard watches me from his perch on a nearby boulder. His black and grey body lies unmoving for an hour as he soaks in the last warmth of the day. I paint quickly, trying to capture the sunlight accents on the rocks before they disappear in the cliff shadow as it traverses the hillside.
There are 3 items of note in this painting. First is the use of Alizarin Crimson and French Ultramarine to create a purple-ish red for the shadow areas of the rocks. It's a good choice rather than fighting against a dull shadow color choice. Secondly, the strong angled lines of the foreground boulders help to maintain the steepness of the hillside without overpowering the rest of the image, Edgar Payne, in his book "Composition of Outdoor Painting", would refer to this as a "Diagonal Line" composition. Many landscape painters prefer strong diagonal lines to keep the painting from becoming dull. Lastly, the addition of the small hawk on the rocky edge helps to create eye movement within the painting. Notice how your eye naturally starts at the bottom of the cliff, then follows up the angled rocks to the left, then traverses straight across to the hawk, then drops straight down to the bottom of the cliff. This circular eye movement makes a painting interesting to observe while still allowing you time later on to explore other areas outside the circle.
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