2024; Oil on panel; 8×10. A plein air study from the deck of a friend’s houseboat as we floated on Lake Powell this past week. The cliffs in Lake Powell are surreal. First, their color is intense. Secondly, the rock shapes are smoothed and rounded by the wind and water erosion. Third, there are both vertical and horizontal bands of color. The stone itself (coupled with high-water marks called “bathtub rings”) produces strong horizontal bands in the sedimentary rock. Now add vertical elements like cracks in the rock and red and/or black mineral stains that streak down the rockface. I find I have to mute the color of rock quite strongly or it just looks fake. Now add the complexity of those cliff reflections in the smooth waters of Lake Powell. It’s tricky to nail.
John Walthier 