San Antonio Texas Watercolor Workshop

I will be presenting a four-day watercolor landscape painting workshop for the San Antonio Watercolor Group February 20-23, 2008. The workshop will consist of painting demonstrations, powerpoint presentations, and plenty of student one-on-one time as we explore methods for making fantastic landscape paintings in watercolor. Click here for more watercolor workshop information

My New Grandson

Early this morning we celebrated the arrival of a new grandson. He is our 16th grandchild, so we are very experienced grandparents--professionals actually. We had no idea our grandkids would be so cute. My wife Nellie headed north this morning to help out with the other kids. I'll join them on Thursday and see the little guy first hand. But until then, here's a photo, compliments of Jason's cell phone camera.

Painting of Temple and Utah History Paintings in Pioneer Magazine

Pioneer Magazine featured my painting of the St. George LDS Temple on the cover of the current issue. In addition two more paintings were used in double page layouts on the interior articles. "Temple Morning" is also available as a limited edition print through my website.



Washington Cotton Factory is available as a limited edition print.



"Bus Stop on Temple Street" is available as a limited edition print.

Old Red Barn Painting -- Painting Demonstration How to Paint a Sky in Watercolor

I started this painting earlier in a watercolor class at Passion for Painting Art Gallery. I was demonstrating how to paint skies in watercolor in just five minutes using a wet-into-wet technique. Of course the reason it only takes five minutes is because by then the watercolor paper is dry, and I cannot get soft edges anymore.This sky was actually done by adding a second glaze after the first was dry to give the clouds more contrast and drama. The barn is the same one I used previously in another painting, "Open Barn."

Watercolor Painting Demonstration at Dixie State College -- 2 New Paintings

Painting above: "Desert Study"


Painting above: "Zion Light West Temple"

I finished up a couple of small studies today and took them with me to give a guest presentation at the art department of Dixie State College. I gave examples of how to plan a painting, and the importance of preparing value studies. We also talked about negative painting techniques and how to use aerial perspective to create depth. I then let them choose one of my value studies and did a painting demonstration for them. Although it was a beginning watercolor class, I was impressed with their level of skill and dedication. Their teacher Mindy Deschamps had been encouraging them to begin with a good value sketch, and I reinforced that message with my painting demonstration.

National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas

Roland Lee with #1 Saddle-bronc rider Cody Wright at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.

My son Jon, his dad-in-law Dan Chidester, my grandson Travis, and I slipped away to the National Finals Rodeo last night in Las Vegas and had a great time. We stopped by the Cowboy Christmas Show at the Las Vegas convention center where we saw some great cowboy paintings and sculpture, and Travis picked out some new boots. I visited for a few minutes with NFR Saddle Bronc competitor Cody Wright from Utah (photo above) who took 3rd place in his event tonight. We'll go back down on Monday night to see another go-around.

Virgin River Painting Study in Zion Canyon

I was inspired by our trip to Zion National Park and did a little study today from the photos and sketches I made last week. The yellow leaves were still on the Cottonwoods then, but most are gone now with the cold snap that brought snow to Zion. I hope to work this up into a larger painting later. I loved the deep shadows and the warm glow of sunlight hitting the canyon wall.

(Click on the photos for full-size view) I am working on Arches 140 lb and the image size is 8 in. x 12 in. A quick pencil sketch on the paper is all I need to brush on the first wet-in-wet glazes.

After putting a second glaze on the cliffs I sketch out the tree trunks which will be easy to paint dark over light.

A Day in the Snow at Zion National Park

We had our annual Christmas party of the Zion Natural History Association tonight at Zion Lodge. So Nellie and I went up to Zion early today and drove on up to our cabin on the East Rim. While Zion was mostly dry, when we got up on top we found about six inches of snow which surprised us. The dirt road into our cabin was fresh snow-pack on top of mud from the two days of rain last weekend so it was a slippery mud-slinging ride. We repaired one of the doors on the main cabin and closed everything up for the winter, bringing benches and chairs indoors etc. The sun broke through and sparkled on the pristine blanket of white, and I relished my last visit of the season to my Zion sanctuary.

A picnic on our tailgate at East Zion gave no clue to the snow we'd find just a few miles further at our cabin.

Just a skiff of snow here and there and a light dusting on the tops of the cliffs. A few hundred feet higher would be very different