Saturday, October 24, 2015

Black Canyon of the Gunnison


The Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado is a deep cleft in the ground with almost vertical cliffs of rock leading down to a whitewater river thousands of feet below.  

Black Canyon of the Gunnison, casein, 5 x 8 inches
Rudyard Kipling described an 1889 visit: "We entered a gorge, remote from the sun, where the rocks were two thousand feet sheer, and where a rock splintered river roared and howled ten feet below a track which seemed to have been built on the simple principle of dropping miscellaneous dirt into the river and pinning a few rails a-top. There was a glory and a wonder and a mystery about the mad ride, which I felt keenly..."


The sun disappears behind clouds, so I try to reconstruct the light effect from memory. A thunderstorm is coming, so I pack up quickly and run back before the rain and lightning comes. 
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October 27 is the deadline for the Graveyard Painting Challenge. Check out the amazing paintings that are already appearig on the Facebook Event Page.

4 comments:

pierangelo boog said...

That's very impressive !

KM Ryan said...

The lighting is beautifully rendered. What paint did you use? I cannot tell from the palette.

James Gurney said...

Thanks, Pierangelo. KM, it's casein, very similar to gouache.

Karen Eade said...

That is absolutely fantastic