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On the first morning, I head west to Mohave Point where I know the light will stay constant, shadows won't move much, and I am familiar with the scene to the east.  The first thing is to do a sketch.  You see the black sketchbook along with the other items.  I was tempted to just jump in, but took my own advice and sketched first.

And then outlined the scene in red on my canvas.  That's Sheva Temple beginning to light up across the Canyon.  As I paint, those red outlines will disappear.

 I was determined to get out earlier than the previous morning.  Painter Tom Conner and I headed to Hopi Point where I showed him the Hopi Point Overhang.  Getting an early start gives one plenty of time to estimate a scene.

Still plenty of time before the sun starts to creep into the Canyon, but you can see how quickly the sky lightens!

There are no words!

OK, so after painting one scene, I felt I had time to do another.  The shadows are still constant on the top of Battleship.  This turned out to be one of the most fun paintings of the week.  Adding two ravens gave the painting "air".

Another early morning and I had a few miles to drive AND get set up,  I was hoping for a prolonged sunrise.  See the waning moon up ahead?

And I wasn't disappointed!  This was the most colorful sunrise of the week!

I love this little private spot down off the parking lot at the end of Yaki Point.  

There is just enough room to set up gear and wait for sunrise. I have painted here many times before and knew the sunlight would strike Brahma and Zoroaster Temples on their eastern-facing sides.

And I wasn't disappointed!  

As I painted, something caught my eye and looking westward, this was the fantastic scene.  Watch for this to result in a painting at a later date!

Final day out painting, I invited a new friend, Steph Amsel, to join me at this special unnamed point.  She has no trouble with heights and loved the privacy and just watching the clouds change as I painted.  

We were perched right above the Bright Angel Trail.  Watching the mules trudge down into the Canyon is a treat!

The wonderful Conservancy crew put up a great display at the end of the week.  Each artist gets about six feet of wall space for work to be displayed before the show opens.

And here is opening evening at Kolb Studio.  Dozens of paintings found new homes.  The show continues through April 26.

The trail leads off on an easy level terrain

It's been a very dry summer and there aren't very many wildflowers.

We'll get a few views of the Peaks along the way.

And the trail is open to other traffic.  These guys were pretty courteous, however.

One of the trail junctions.

Long switchbacks traverse the drainages.  Nothing steep or difficult on this trail!

Time for a snack on this too-warm September morning.

The return hike simply rambles through more pines and dry forest floor.  Not the most exciting hike, but any day outdoors is a good one!

Next comes the daily solvent straining routine.  Paint particles have been settling to the bottom of the solvent can, so there usually is clear solvent on top.  I'll carefully pour it into the red cup, hopefully leaving all the dregs behind.

Then I'll pour the sludge into the sludge cup.

Then clean the remainder out with a paper towel.

This "basket" is inserted into the solvent can.

Brushes that have been cleaned from the day before rest in the clear solvent and I'm ready to go!

By the end of a painting day, the solvent looks pretty murky.  It will bear the predominant colors I've used throughout a painting session.  Usually it becomes  some kind of gray--but not always.

After the palette is cleaned, each brush is swished well in the solvent, bristles pinched in a paper towel, then an additional cleaning and conditioning with Jack's Studio Solv.  It is amazing the additional paint this stuff will get out of the bristles!

This is pretty typical of the end of  an afternoon of painting.  I'll take a palette knife with a long blade--

--and clean off and discard most of the paint in the work area of the palette.

The glass scraper will get the rest.

Eventually the remaining blobs from which I work will harden and I'll scrape those off to and replace with fresh paint.  The working area of the palette is pretty clean, however, and ready for the next day's work.