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Painting in Celebration of Art
9/24/2023 7:42:51 AM | By Dawn Sutherland | Comment on this
This is our first morning out and we'll head to Pipe Creek Overlook. There's the typical arrangement of gear in my Forester. Supply organizer on the right has solvent, extra canvases, and because I can be just a little OCD, even an extra pochade box and tripod. I've seen an unexpected gust of wind send painting gear flying over the edge of the Rim. If I somehow lose mine over the edge, I'd be sunk. The tool box in the middle has my extra tubes of paint. The back pack contains all my gear I need once away from my car. It weighs about 20 lbs with the tripod strapped on. I'll sit on the bumper and simply wriggle into it, buckle it, and off we go.
It's just a short walk eastward along the Rim. Walking along, we observe the sunrise on the Canyon's formations, then we hear a slight rustling in the vegetation to our right. What a surprise!
First light in the Canyon--at least from our point of view.
And then it starts flooding down the eastern-facing edges of the formations. Better decide quickly what to paint and nail down those shadows!
Good enough for the first morning.
The second morning, we'll head out to a spot known among painters as "Trailview 2". This is the place we can lower gear down through a fissure in the rim, then wriggle ourselves down and find a sweet private "balcony" slightly below the rim where very few people ever see us.
Sunrise on the Balcony
The next morning, I was awake at 3:30am. I'd been thinking about getting out to Desert View to paint. It's about a 45 minute drive, so one doesn't want to waste daylight driving to a location. As long as we're up early and wide awake, we'll have a quick breakfast and get on the road. We''ll leave our apartment at 4:45 heading east, ever watchful for elk that have a way of stepping out into the road. We see one fine-looking bull elk that had just crossed Hwy 64 and was ambling off through the forest margin.
It's still dark when we arrive at 5:30, so take your coffee, and use your headlamp to find your way to the rim to set up. The stars were out when we left, but in 45 minutes, thin clouds moved in. We're treated to a very short, brilliant sunrise, then a "wax paper" sky. I seldom paint on cloudy days, but we drove all the way out here, so let's see what happens on the canvas.
The cool thing about painting under overcast skies is one doesn't have to worry about shadows disappearing. AND I found you can actually see some details better in the distance. If you know this end of the Canyon, you may be able to spot Shinumo Altar on the horizon left.
I titled this painting "Somewhere in the Distance".
Next morning, we're off to Yaki Point. We're so fortunate in this event; artists receive permits to drive to locations to which one would normally need to take a shuttle bus, or simply walk. This time, we'll set up at the top of the S. Kaibab Trail. You may be able to see one of eight switchbacks in the "Chimney" under the paper towel roll.
To the northwest, Osiris Temple is first to catch the early morning light.
Looking straight north, sunlight faintly outlines the eastern edges of Brahma and Zoroaster Temples. On this morning, the temps are mid-40s, and the paint is s little stiff to work with. Some mornings, you just have to sit with your coffee and take in the view.
The Canyon is populated with all kinds of interesting creatures. Here's a watchful little rock squirrel.
I was all set up on Shoshone Point, turned to look around for a moment, and was startled by this fellow! I have to say that's the longest garter snake I've ever seen. He relaxed there motionless, keeping a wary eye on me keeping a wary eye on him. Eventually, I became absorbed in painting and when I looked to see if he was still there, he and his great length had moved on.
Evening at Pima Point. One of the best locations for sunset because the Point extends out into the Canyon. This is the last evening out painting and the light is excellent. Clouds often make sundowns more colorful along with dust and smoke in the air. If you don't already know, painters and photographers can tell you a secret about sunsets--
--Don't just watch the setting sun in the west. Watch what's going on in the east! Just look at those fantastic pink clouds!!
And as the sun goes down, the eastern clouds fade and we look west again to watch the sunset send a few last flares across the land and up into the sky.
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