Paintings 5 & 6 - Half Dome and Thor's Hammer

Limited Palette is key

This week I wanted to send some love to our National Parks, Yosemite and Bryce Canyon. Paintings 5 and 6 of my 50 Painting Series are Half Dome and Thor's Hammer—two stunning rock formations that are really worth protecting.

Painting 5: Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California

Half Dome is one of those places I have always wanted to go. I've wanted to climb it for years now. This is the second time I've had the privilege of painting it, and I wanted to capture that afternoon light hitting it similar to the Firefall at Horsetail Falls in the park. In my 3 studies I did before diving into the final painting, I just wasn't seeing the light, airy feeling I wanted. For the final, I knew I needed to put lots of gold leaf under the mountain. I lightened up the sky and painted some trees (something I never do). I love how it turned out. 

Half Dome - 20"x24" - oil on canvas with gold leaf

Painting 6: Thor's Hammer, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

The second painting completed this week was Thor's Hammer, the iconic hoodoo in Bryce Canyon National Park. I first visited Bryce in 2020 when I first moved to Utah. The red rock contrasting with the stark blue sky is stunning and my palette needed to reflect that. I also wanted to try something different in the sky. So taking inspiration from Gustav Klimt, I let a lot of gold shine through in the sky between each blocky brushstroke.

Thor's Hammer - 12"x24"

I'm over 10% done with my project now! 6/50 paintings are complete! I feel more and more confidence with the oil paint each time.