Plein Air Painting in Zion

I had Zion Natural History Association Board meetings in Zion on Saturday and took advantage of the great weather to do a little sketching and plein air painting after the meetings. It's like Christmas morning for me to be turned loose in the canyon with a couple of hours to burn. So, packing my sketchbook and portable paint kit I hopped from trail to trail, trying to soak it all in, and grabbing sketches as I went.


Ahhh, now this is the way to spend a Saturday afternoon! Parking my truck near the Zion Canyon turnoff, I set up my Anderson easel and folding chair on the west side of the river to grab this little sketch of Twin Brothers and Mountain of the Sun.



From the same location I did this little sketchbook study of a small pinnacle looking back toward Bridge Mountain.


Nice afternoon lighting on the Sentinel caught my attention, and I set up long enough to do a quick watercolor Sketch from the Pa'rus Trail bridge.



Following the river on foot I snapped some photos and sketched near the Court of Patriarchs.


Just for good measure, here's a sketchbook drawing I did earlier of Angels Landing from the trail. Now that's a hike you do not want to miss!

Roland Lee mini video How to paint Rock and Snow in Zion National Park

In my last watercolor workshop I demonstrated how to plan and paint a watercolor painting of a snow scene in Zion National Park. One of my students shot a little video during the process. It's only 8 minutes long, but you might like to take a look. We've been shooting a few more clips lately of some of the demos, so a few more will be added as time goes on. Patty Bingham from the art department at Dixie State College will be shooting some footage of my Drawing Workshop this Friday, so maybe we can post a little of that as well.

Click here to see "Rock and Snow, Watercolor Demonstration by Roland Lee" on Youtube

Dennis Farris Speaks about his Zion Artist in Residence Experience

Texas artist Dennis Farris spoke to an audience of students and community members at Southern Utah University last evening. Nellie and I were able to attend to hear him describe what its like to wake up each morning in Zion Canyon and spend the day painting its stunning cliffs. Dennis wraps up his experience this week as "Artist in Residence" at Zion National Park. He brought a number of paintings in progress and described his methods of painting. He is a master at values, and says if you can get the middle grays right, everything else falls into place. Farris hopes to have 25 paintings completed by August for a show in New Mexico. He has kept a blog of his experiences at www.farrisart.com


Guests got a close-up view of Dennis' paintings in progress after the talk. His paintings are wonderful.

Painting with the Grandkids

Nellie and I flew to Houston for a week of visiting our grandkids Matty, Katie, and Ally. Of course we got in a little quality art time with Grandpa's special paints. The girls just enjoyed the sheer ecstacy of paint on paper, but Matty and I poured our creative energies into a Space and Rocket Fest.


Painting the solar system


My amazing "X-wing Space Cruiser"


Matty's paintings of NASA rockets showing the history of manned space flight

Artist in Residence Zion National Park

I enjoyed spending a little time today with artist Dennis Farris, who is working in Zion National Park as the Artist in Residence. He is the first artist to get to stay in the restored Grotto Museum building which now provides housing for the Artist in Residence Program. The Zion National Park Foundation (of which I am a board member) raised funds for the restoration project, so I was pretty excited to meet Dennis and see how he liked his new "digs."I have to admit I'm pretty jealous. Not too many people get to wake up each morning to the sun rising over the massive cliffs of Zion Canyon.
The Grotto building makes a wonderful studio. I watch as Dennis works on a small oil painting inside the Grotto "studio." Check out Dennis Farris' blog for day-to-day updates on his Zion Canyon experience. He is truly an amazing painter.


After leaving Dennis at the studio I hiked part way up the Observation Point Overlook Trail to get some photos. The trail was still snow-packed and iced over so it wasn't too safe, but the view across to Angel's Landing was fantastic. I did a few pencil sketches in my travel sketchbook of some of the cliff formations.

Ian Ramsay Watercolor Demonstration

Utah artist Ian Ramsay presented a watercolor painting demonstration tonight for a combined meeting of the Southern Utah Watercolor Society and the Hurricane Valley Art
Alliance. Ian's work is well-known and he just won the purchase award last week at the Sears Invitational Art Show. He will be teaching a two-day workshop Thursday and Friday in St. George.

St. George Gallery Art Walk

It was fun to meet with collectors and fellow artists who came down for the St. George Art Gallery Walk. Jane Juber, Gallery Director, hosted a nice open house at both The Mission Gallery and the Authentique Gallery. Pleasant weather greeted our out-of-town guests who combined this event with the Sears Invitational Art Show and the Kayenta Art Festival, creating a great art-filled weekend.


Artists Michael Bingham, Roland Lee, and Craig Fetzer in front of Fetzer's Impressions Gallery.


One of my favorite figurative painters, Michael Malm stands in front of his incredible new oil painting of Jesus with the children. The painting just blew me away. I am privileged to own one of his religious paintings and am always stunned by his handling of light and shadow.


My good friend Julie Rogers poses with her amazingly vibrant pastel paintings of pioneer scenes.


Landscape painter Robert Call creates rich images of the Utah landscape, using a combination of loose and tight painterly brush strokes.

Award at the Sears Invitational Art Show

I just returned from the opening gala of the 2010 Sears Invitational Art Show at Dixie State College where I was pleased to receive second place with my watercolor painting "Nature's Sculpture". The Sears show is one of the premiere art exhibits in Utah and funds raised support the College Missions as well as the Eccles Gallery on campus. Clark and Sandra Jo Benson purchased my award-winning painting for their art collection.


Nellie and Roland Lee at the 2010 Sears Invitational Art Show at Dixie State College

On the Beach in San Diego

My last few posts consisted of my hikes in the rain and snow. This past week I spent in beautiful San Diego California, and enjoyed sunshine, surf, and sand! What a contrast. I attended the Association for Partners in Public Lands Conference representing Zion Natural History Association and the Zion National Park Foundation. Board members of National Park Partner organizations joined NPS staffers and others as we met to discuss ways to keep the public lands healthy, open, and vital for future generations.

Of course people who enjoy the land can't stay indoors all the time, so we took advantage of the location to visit Cabrillo National Monument and other coastal locations. While the eastern seaboard experienced blizzard conditions, I was frolicking in the surf! What a contrast. As always I hoped to catch a distant glimpse of a whale on its migration run, but after scanning the horizon in vain, I turned my attention to the tiny creatures at my feet.


A beautiful Sea Anemone looks for a meal in the Cabrillo Tide Pools

The tide pools are teeming with tiny creatures


A short video clip of the ocean at Cabrillo National Monument

Painting the Red Rocks - February Watercolor Workshops

Workshop Students use their sketchbooks to study light and shadow on the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve.

I held back to back two-day watercolor workshops February 2-5 at A Passion for Painting Art Studio. We enjoyed sketching and painting outdoors at Snow Canyon, and on the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve north of St. George, along with working in the studio. See my website for more photos of the classes.


Painting on location near Snow Canyon


I completed several quick watercolor demonstration paintings for the students in the first workshop.