the Canyons

Friday found me painting in Douglas County just south of Lone Tree off of I-25. Steph has been chosen to do a demo for an open house on this property that is going to be developed into a "green" community that will include an organic "farm," a restaurant that will use the produce from the farm, a spa and an artist's in residence program among other things. She needs to gather information and do studies in preparation for the demo next month. Here she is studying some flora for her color notes that she was taking while I did a sketch.

It was a hot day with the occassional breeze. Lots of flies buzzing around my head and biting ants crawling up my pant legs to keep me in tune with my surroundings. But the soft greens were lovely. There is a benefit to having rain all summer as I cannot remember the last time this area was this lush.

The first sketch is a 12x9 that I did late morning. I think it has good movement and gives a feel for the rolling landscape. Along with the movement, I was just trying to capture the shapes and values.

The second is a 8x6. I stood in the same location for both of these, but turned a quarter turn or so to continue up the hill. This one has a "wobble" in the middle where the canvas is not quite flat. The canvas is taped to a board and I don't like this canvas as it is just too lightweight. In this one I was trying to capture the sense of distance with the change in color and temperature as the hills came closer. It is not as successful. But that is the point of these exercises-to try and try again.