I love painting the simple beauties of the desert and magnifying them in each of my paintings. It’s, in a sense, putting them in a spotlight to show the viewer these hidden, delicate beauties found in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. Most of my landscapes spotlight a more close up subject in my painting, like a saguaro, Joshua tree or ocotillo. I usually paint from a photograph that I have taken, or I like to collaborate with photographers and combine our talents. I paint on canvas, ABS board and museum board. I simply start with some guidelines and sometimes some rough sketching on my surface. I always start with my sky, working down to the foreground. I am a simple painter and only use oil paints and mineral spirits. 

Arizona Evening Display, oil alla prima on canvas, 30 x 40" (76 x 101 cm) 

Lately I have been drawn to saturated, warm colors of the Southwest deserts of California and Arizona. I’ve been really having fun working on paintings that take me under 12 hours to complete from start to finish. Working with these alla prima paintings has its challenges with working wet-on-wet with oil paint. It takes dedication and a game plan to complete one of these paintings, especially when they’re larger in size. I love the challenge of knowing I have a small window of opportunity to let the paint magically work together while wet. I use oil from the tube and mineral spirits when I paint these alla prima paintings.

Sonoran Sunset, oil alla prima on canvas, 40 x 30" (101 x 76 cm)

 

Monsoon Brewing in Joshua Tree, oil and acrylic on canvas, 48 x 72" (121 x 182 cm)

 

Before I start one of my alla prima paintings I usually start with a few lines to determine the horizon line and my subject in the foreground, or I might sketch in more detail. Sometimes I start with a blank, white canvas. It pushes my creative side as an artist. It allows me to break away from the rules and structure of my other paintings, and allows me to capture my first initial impression of my subject that I am painting. Sometimes it feels like I am running a marathon, but I love the raw, different feeling these paintings have. They feel more emotional for me when I paint them as I push wet paint around. It’s capturing my subject in a very different manner. My favorite part of painting an alla prima is my sky, especially when it has clouds. When I paint a sky that is wet-on-wet, it has a softer more natural look, especially when it’s a sunset. I just love all those saturated, warm colors of the sunsets that Arizona and California have. I am trying to capture that romance of colors and moods going on when we see a beautiful sunset, and working wet-on-wet paint tends to set this mood in my paintings. 

My Art in the Making Peaceful Evening in Joshua Tree

Stage 1

Stage 1  Rough Sketch

I start off with a rough sketch of my image. I then block in my sky’s colors from dark to light with a large, flat brush.

Stage 2

Stage 2  Softening the Sky

I then soften my sky from top to bottom with a watercolor mop brush.

Stage 3

Stage 3  Block-in Sunset

Using a smaller round brush and a medium size liner, I start to block my sunset colors on my mountains, first outlining my darks where the shadows go. I then transition to my warm colors, softening the wet-on-wet paint as I go.

Stage 4

Stage 4  Foreground and Main Subjects

I start blocking in my foreground and main subjects of my painting as I move to the other side of the painting, skipping ahead, then moving back to where I left off.

Stage 5

Stage 5  Reviewing Colors

Here is my image I am working from on my iPad. I use the colors of the image combined with my knowledge and understanding of the true common natural colors of the desert, which comes from living in the desert my whole life. I continue to work across the canvas and then move down into the foreground as I block in the whole painting.

Stage 6

Stage 6  Additional Details

I then go back over the whole painting with a few passes—going over everything and building with lots of details.

Stage 7

Stage 7  Finished Artwork

Peaceful Evening in Joshua Tree, oil on canvas, 18 x 24" (45 x 60 cm)

Here is the finished image of my 18-by-24-inch painting of a sunset in Joshua Tree National Park.