Outcrops and Talus

Outcrops and Talus, 8" x 6" Oil on Panel

Instead of painting a wide open scene last Saturday, I narrowed the subject for this painting to some outcrops and talus at the mouth of Rock Canyon. Rock Canyon is a popular local spot in the Wasatch Mountains for hikers and rock climbers. The lowest section of the canyon is desert, surrounded by towering sandstone and limestone cliffs. A little ways up the canyon the trail passes through the heavily wooded canyon bottom. A few miles more, and the steep mountain scenery becomes more open, with scattered stands of aspen and evergreen. If you go farther than most people do, the treeless alpine zone provides stunning views thousands of feet above the valley.

The upper reaches of Rock Canyon are deep in avalanche prone snow right now, so I decided to paint in the lower end of the canyon, where the south and southwest slopes are free of snow. The painting above is of one of the few snow free areas in the canyon. The quartzite talus provides the lightest tones in the painting.