Canyon Views

On the second day of touring and painting Yellowstone National Park for the class I taught for the Yellowstone Institute, we visited the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River; just minutes away from the famed Artist Point we sat and sketched this view in relative peace--no crowds visited us. We perched on the edge of the canyon on the trail and witnessed the play of sun and shadow on the canyon walls.

Watercolor by Barbara Henon

Barbara Henon began this painting on location and completed it back in the classroom and once she'd returned to her home. I find I work this way frequently, beginning on location and making minor adjustments back in the studio. If I re-work something entirely it no longer has the freshness of a plein air watercolor, so I try not to do too much. I don't expect perfection, just a sense of light and shadow and local color, and some feeling that yes, I was there!

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Comments

[Simona Carini]

When we visited Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon was one of the biggest surprises: believe it or not, I didn't know about it - which was good, in retrospect, because the emotion of the unexpected was such a joy.