For Artists Who Love the Outdoors

It's been a year since I've painted en plein air at Lost Dutchman State Park. I certainly didn't expect to be away that long, but I am really delighted to be back. I feel a bit like Paul Cezanne and his love of painting Mont Sainte Victoire; whenever I see this particular escarpment, I want my paints nearby. What I plan to do is go out weekly for the this month and paint this escarpment from as many angles and sides as I can, just for the sake of painting it.
I've included "Desert Escarpment" from last season, so you can compare them, and each time I add to this blog I'll try and remember to include previous iterations of the site, so you can take time looking over them, and (I hope) comment on the differences and their effect on you personally.
"Jacob's Crosscut" is a 9"x12"watercolour on Claybord. I've written elsewhere about painting on Claybord which I find to be very responsive to watercolour, both in fluidity and precision. For this piece, I've moved my painting station back about 600 metres, and it has given me a broader sweep of the escarpment to work with. I've used cerulean blue, ultramarine violet, raw sienna, Indian red and permanent sap green for my palette which is pretty much what I use in my plain air work, but I've spent more time on the planes between the escaprment and where I'm standing than I did last time. I've also been able to echo ther sweep of the landscape in the cloud formations, something which didn't occur to me last time.
I have a small set of gouache paints which I plan to try out next week. I have no idea how that will work out, but I'm looking forward to the opportunity to play with them en plein air.

Desert Escarpment