An incredible sunrise awaiting Bestie and I when we woke up in the morning. Cool breeze crisp air, fall in the desert is something else wonderful and beautiful that is unique to it's environment. People don't always appreciate the beauty of the desert, but Bestie helped introduce me to it's mysteriously quiet and unpretentious stillness and beauty. I found me a nice sittin' rock to paint from while she went off for her bike ride. There was a nice loop for her to be on, but some traffic messed it up for her. Not everyone is respectful of those on bicycles, but for the most part people I think are just scared and sometimes have kneejerk reactions.
For my subject matter, I tried doing large rock formations, but they were super challenging! Again, I tried using Strathmore 300 watercolor paper, but I seem to want to paint with more control than watercolor usually is good for. I am fairly happy with how these turned out, but over the course of several hours I really struggled with the values and shadows. As I look at them now, I don't even know why I have those nonsensical yellow streaks in the water-- where are they supposed to be coming from?! Well, another lesson and ultimately a lot of fun to do. It's bittersweet because I have a long drive ahead of me to go back to Idaho.
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