Arches National Park: Balanced Rock

Balanced Rock

Painting No. 2-D-13

12"x 12" oil on canvas panel

 

Last Saturday morning I was in Arches National Park visiting Sarah Hamingson, the current Community Artist in the Parks pastel artist. I had intended to paint en plein air at the Balanced Rock parking lot but I forgot my mineral spirits and resorted to sketching several versions of Balanced Rock before deciding that I liked this angle the best. It's a tough subject to paint, the subject is awkward and impossibly balanced.

 

This is the usual view of the rock, which is kinda ugly to work with from an artistic perspective. The angle of my painting is at the far right side of the photo, and from the base looking up. Essentially my painting is a study of warm shadow contrasts in a typically cool environment.