The sandstone walls that descend into Lake Powell's crystal blue water are riddled with stains, cracks, chips, and crevices. I love to study the way light and shadow affects the surfaces of the rock and the water.

1.As I approach the stone walls, I use a very loose technique of wet into wet, allowing pigment to mingle. Then I use a dry brush technique, laying my brush on its side to "scumble" across the surface of the Arches cold press paper. This creates surface texture which I will convert into little chips and cracks later on.

2. I now go to work shaping the rugged surface of the stone using light and shadow. I've added the characteristic stains and varnish which is common to the desert southwest. Notice that the core shadow side of the stone pillars are warmer in temperature and have distinct reflected light on the back side. The shadows cast by these pillars on the facing rock wall are much darker and pick up the blue from the sky.

3. I complete most of the cliffs, at least with basic washes before moving into the water. I need to know what the cliffs look like before I can effectively create their reflections. I have sketched in some shrubs on the foreground rocks which I will paint using the negative painting process. As I paint the water, the lighter branches and leaves will be shaped.

4. The painting in progress in my studio. Notice my reference photo shot at the Lake. I have chosen to significantly change the scene to create more interest. I generally use a lot of artistic license when I paint.

5. Now I start to carefully build up the water reflections. The shrubs on the right foreground are created as I paint the darkere water reflections behind them. See the close-up steps that follow in figures 6, 7, and 8.

6. Using my pencil, I lightly sketch in the shapes of the shrubs and branches. This is my guide for painting the darker shapes around them.

7. Now I have the overall shapes of both the water and the shrubs. All I need to do next is model the branches with color and value.

8. I begin adding color, leaving some of the branches very light for contrast. When completed, I will paint the cast shadows on the rocks which will give them mass and form.

9. After modeling the foreground rocks and shrubs, I move back into the water carefully painting the reflections. Notice that based on the law of linear perspective, the intervals between the ripples and reflection breaks get narrowing as they go back in space. This gives us the sense of distance. The long narrow streaks of blue in the distant water are caused by the wind breaking the surface of the lake.

"Mirrors of Stone - Lake Powell"
22 x 29 Watercolor by Roland Lee

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