Zion Canyon - Colored Pencil Drawing

"Zion Canyon" Colored Pencil

Celebrated for its rivers, lakes, mountains and canyons, the Colorado Plateau is a complicated composition. It would take a lifetime to fully explore and comprehend this unusual place.

To express southern Utah’s unending beauty through perfection would certainly fail. Devoid of tedious details, this desert landscape was drawn freely from an etched memory.

It’s a sizzling, summer day in Zion Canyon where the clear air is hot and dry. An orange undertone permeates the textured paper and infuses the dreamy rendering with a warm glow.

Providing some relief from the heat, a row of crooked cottonwoods lines the muddy riverbank. Exiting at an angle, the Virgin is a refreshing river whose color reflects the powder-blue sky.

The soft edges of a wispy, white cloud seem to melt into an infinite atmosphere. Photographs are unable to interpret the scenery with acceptable realism so a vivid imagination is required.

As a cactus anchors the corner, trees form an archway leading to the sculpted spires that were carved so many years ago. The sheer, cliff walls are massive and the suggestion of their strange forms is defined by dark shadows.

When broken down to its basics, the true power of this chasm may be understood. Upon each return, a new lesson is learned and hopefully the experience gained will result in an honest expression of the stunning Southwest.