Cedar Cove is based on a scene Jenny and I discovered while exploring the country around Canyonlands National Park in Utah with our Tacoma and our little teardrop trailer, Little Ruby. I found this composition only about fifty yards from where we had parked. What first caught my attention was the dramatic pattern of light and shadow across the rock walls—a fleeting effect that was already changing as I photographed it. Below, a dry creek bed winds through cedars and reddish rock, where the complementary reds and greens add another layer of interest to the composition. In this tutorial, we’ll work through how those large patterns of light and dark, along with the color relationships and foreground shapes, help organize the painting and create depth. If you’d like to paint along with me, a downloadable copy of the reference photograph is available inside the tutorial.

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