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This is the reference photo.  It's a simple scene with the shaded rock wall in the background, the lit wall on the left, and the sloped grassy area in the foreground.  And, of course, the sky, so basically, four parts.

The canvas is one I primed long ago with a deep yellow tint.  I wipe it down with a layer of slick medium so that any goof-ups can be easily wiped off.

Using Ultramarine Blue, I cover the background.  It is transparent; you can see the canvas right through it. Same with the vertical cliffs on the left.  Since they are mostly reddish, I cover them with Quinacridone Burnt Scarlet.  The foreground is blocked in with a mixture of Burnt Scarlet and Indian Yellow.  What's left are the trees.  Since Blue and yellow make green, that's what I'll use to block them in.

Just as a test, I punched in a clump of prickly pear in the foreground to see how that feels.  A painting does need to have something to anchor it in a corner.

To get a little sunlight on those dark junipers, I wiped off some of the dark green around their crests, and came back in with a lighter yellow.  It still looks like a mess at this point.

I block in the sky here.  That lighter tone adjacent to the dark background will make it feel even darker.  

There is a hint of red rock in the shadows, so I wipe off some of the blue as a guide for where I'll start putting in the shadowed red rock. I also start to indicate some of the detail and deep crevices in the wall on the left.

Push and pull.  Deepen the red and lighten the lit areas on the left rock wall.  Add some dark red into the shadowed background.  A little more detail in the junipers, and sun-struck faces on the left rock wall..  AND I'm starting to ponder if I want to put in the suggestion of a trail.

More vegetation detail, more work in the background.

I want to get the feeling of the sunlight warming the slope and striking the tops of the junipers.  Still haven't done anything much with the foreground and that lonely clump of prickly pear is still waiting its turn.

Once it reaches a point where it feels good, I try not to fiddle with it any more.  The junipers look just the way I want them.

Now a lot of work on that golden grass.  A suggestion of a trail. Some knife work to get the erratic grass clumps, AND a lot of work on the foreground anchoring prickly pear.  I had them all rather dark until I remembered that they often look better if I work a little purple into their shadowed side.  A fine pointy brush allows me to get just a little sun glint on a few edges.  This is where more of  Eric's teaching comes home to roost.  Not every cactus pad needs to be defined.  Let only a suggestion of a trail exist and let the viewer's eye figure out where they might pick a path up this slope.

Finished!  This is historic Woo Ranch some miles outside of Sedona and Cottonwood.  If you know where Palatki is, this property is adjacent to that ancient site.  The slopes are steep, but lead to a wonderful  overhang where one can view petroglyphs and imagine what life must have been like there hundreds of years ago.