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Litton's Legacy, comes as a two-part story.  The first is all about the painting.  The second is how the title came about.  

I snapped this photo on a 2017 river trip through Grand Canyon.  It was morning and our raft of 15 floated past another river party from the O.A.R.S. company out of Flagstaff.  Four graceful dories and three supply rafts waiting for their passengers to gather and set off on another day of adventure on the Colorado River.  

Over the last three years, that photo had been whispering, "paint me".  It was easy to ignore for a while, but soon the voice became more strident.  "Paint me".  I countered with the argument that the scene was too complicated.  I've never painted boats before.  How would I handle all those ripples and reflections in the water?  Finally one day when two commissions were finished  and I had nothing else on deck to paint, I'd run out of reasons to not give it a try.  With all my arguments depleted, I started hearing the voices in my head advising You won't know if you don't try.  What do you have to lose?  It's oil paint; if you screw up, just wipe it off.  

I started by cropping off most of the upper portion of the photo leaving all of the water, boats and a small strip of the shoreline.  I chose a 12" x 24" canvas.  I decided to prime it nearly black and paint over that undertone.  That should really make the colors of the rafts, boats, and equipment onshore pop.  I primed the canvas and set it aside to dry. 

The next afternoon, I sat and stared at that dark, blank canvas.  Still afraid I'd screw up the boats, I began by painting all the negative space around them.  When I had that space shaped just right, I began to work on the dories and rafts.  It was one of those all-too-rare experiences when the painter disappears into the right brain, losing contact with real time, and becomes one with the paint and canvas.  When I came up for air, the painting was essentially finished!

There were a few details about the dories, however, that I simply couldn't discern from my reference photo.  It occurred to me that perhaps I could head over to Grand Canyon Dories and ask to take a closer look.  And that's what I did the next day.  And that's what starts Part II of the story.

Grand Canyon Dories is just a short drive from my home.  I found an employee in the warehouse and asked if I could come in and take a look at some of the dories.  I explained I needed to get some of the detail correct in a painting.  

There they were, the very dories that were in my painting.  All bore names of beautiful and natural places that had fallen to human-caused destruction--Music Temple, Black Mesa, and perhaps most revered of all, the Emerald Mile. 

I'll pause here and advise reading Kevin Fedarko's remarkable book, The Emerald Mile, to understand the history of Grand Canyon, development of the dams on either end, and until recently, the fastest run down the Colorado River through Grand Canyon. 

Martin Litton was a lifelong environmentalist and devoted activist.  He was the 185th person to float through Grand Canyon and set a record at age 87  as the oldest person to row through the Canyon.  He founded Grand Canyon Dories and introduced countless people to the wonders and adventure of floating through Grand Canyon.  He passed away in 2014, but left a legacy of reverence and preservation not only for Grand Canyon, but all wild places.  The dories in the painting belonged to Martin Litton.  It felt right to title this painting Litton's Legacy.

I have another reference photo.  I feel much more confident to take on another dory painting.  Watch for it in weeks to come on my landscape page.