In keeping with the Western vacation theme that I began yesterday with my Day 21 Phoenix Sunset, here is the majestic Yosemite Seqouia. I enjoyed painting these trees, a subject I revisit once in a while. And I got to relive another trip with stunning scenery.
“Yosemite Sequoia” by Beverly Shipko, Oil and acrylic on cradled wood panel, 7 x 5 inches
Recently I was watching the evening news which did a piece on the mighty sequoias and how they are being stressed by the drought. I learned an intriguing fact – that each tree requires about 700 gallons of water a day!
So sequoias were top of mind, and I began thinking about our recent trip to Mariposa Grove in Yosemite in May – which was absolutely breathtaking. Mariposa Grove is a sequoia grove (the largest in the park with several hundred mature sequoias) in the southernmost part of Yosemite National Park in California. It’s a unique experience to walk through the park in the morning as the sun rises, when you can hear your own footsteps in the quiet before mobs of tourists arrive.
For those of you who have never seen a sequoia, they are huge! They are so big that it’s almost impossible to get a interesting photo of a whole tree (which is why the above photo only shows the lower half of the tree). To give you some idea of the scale, here I am standing against the roots of a fallen sequoia, and this was one of the smaller trees.
Here’s the view of the top of a sequoia that inspired today’s painting. I began with my customary drawing on wood panel, and applied two light washes of blue acrylic underpainting for the sky, using a wet paper towel. This decision was critical to doing this Challenge painting since there was no way I could paint the background and tiny leaves entirely in oil paint in one day without drying time in between layers.
In the end, this took a lot longer than expected, and I’m falling further behind in the Challenge. I could keep working on it and adding more detail, but the painting looks really fresh in person, and I’m afraid of overworking it. So I am putting down my paint brush.
Besides, I haven’t started applying paint to today’s panel. I’m working on my Day 23 painting, and it’s actually Day 25. (It was a terrific week but I lost 3 days because of the holidays, a stunning wedding, and Laura’s visit.) I have to find a way to catch up. I should probably start by writing shorter blog posts. Maybe it’s time to do another drawing.
Any suggestions? Wish me luck! Thanks for visiting.
