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Showing posts from June, 2017

Red Rocks Park - Happy Days

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Red Rocks Park, Colorado Up out of Mount Vernon Creek in the steep foothills west of Denver, an extraordinary arrangement of red rocks has shattered the western skyline. A network of dirt paths and sheer stairways are woven through the bustling venue. Taking center stage in this natural backdrop is the unique amphitheater that hosts world-class performances by musical artists. The place is always warm during a summer dayhike while weekend shows heat up the night. Looping around an ancient garden of sandstone, the Trading Post Trail is a favorite as it features lively songbirds above and yellow snakes below. Here, the park's colorful cliffs contrast sharply with the fresh, green foliage. Down on the Dinosaur Ridge, seasons have changed but up in the high country there's still lots of snow. This time of year, the semi-arid environment that describes this region is the perfect place for a solitary sojourn. After surviving a dark winter and a difficult spring, the long...

Gore Range Sketch - Colored Pencil Drawing

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"Gore Range Sketch" Colored Pencil It's summer in the high country and a blanket of wildflowers covers the steep slopes below Ute Pass. Looming over a slender valley, the Gore Range is composed from an array of incredibly jagged peaks. Heaped on top of the purple mountains, deep snow still persists even until the end of June. Dark woodlands are curved hastily across the rolling foothills, creating a tapestry of verdant greens. The beauty of Blue River Basin is an irresistible impression. Sketched quickly in plein air, this pencil drawing might sometime in the future provide the framework for creating a more finished piece of art.

Forest Edge - Colored Pencil Drawing

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"Forest Edge" Colored Pencil It's an early spring evening in the Front Range foothills as golden light streams through this quiet corridor. Waves of yellow grasses churn across the valley floor like a turbulent, yellow sea. The shadows are violet and their strange shapes follow the contour of a rugged landscape. The centerpiece of the scenery is a pair of red bushes that inhabit this special domain. The forest edge is a dark barrier of scattered pine trees set in the picture's background. Subtle shading helps define the individual forms while a few streaks of lemon break up the deepest greens. A single Ponderosa seems to have captured the spotlight as it stretches vertically into a powder-blue sky. In the vast expanse a few clouds drift slowly out of the west with trail edges that disintegrate into the atmosphere. Simplified shapes and exaggerated color are stippled onto the page in a pointillistic manner, recording an impression of a fleeting moment in t...

Sneffels Range Spring - Acrylic

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"Sneffels Range Spring" Acrylic Tucked discretely below the Dallas Divide, the Sneffels is a scenic sub-range of the San Juan Mountains. The confusion of untidy crags is a rugged remnant of an ancient volcano. It's late spring but bare rock is beginning to emerge from a shroud of heavy, winter snow. A row of crooked cottonwoods is an elaborate gateway into the Colorado wild. Patches of delicate dandelions are scattered throughout the lush meadow while an assembly of blazing brush complicates an already busy foreground. As a gray sky drizzles the landscape with cold rain, receding into the distance, colors cool from violet to blue-green. A series of spectacular buttes is a scenic prelude to an awesome alpine environment where cautious strokes define the ragged peaks. Composed from equal parts image, experience and memory, this painting was not meant to hang on a wall. It's more of a sketch than a showpiece. A little bit looser and fabricated with less concer...