Park Avenue in Arches National Park Utah

I recently finished this new watercolor painting of Park Avenue in Arches National Park. It is a stunning place in Utah with huge red rock walls and deep blue skies. The scale of the landscape there is just amazing and I really wanted to capture that feeling of being very small next to those massive stone towers. I love how the bright light hits the orange rocks and creates such a strong contrast against the shadows.

For this painting I used a lot of warm colors like burnt sienna and yellow ochre to get that classic desert feel. The sky needed to be a very strong blue so I used plenty of ultramarine blue and a little bit of cerulean blue near the horizon. I think the mix of the hot orange ground and the cool blue sky is what makes this scene work so well. It really brings the heat of the desert to life on the paper.

In the foreground I added some desert plants using viridian green and some touches of lavender for the shadows. I find that adding these small bits of green helps the red rocks stand out even more. I kept the brushwork quite loose and fast to show the texture of the sand and the scrubby bushes. I also used a tiny bit of white paint at the end to catch the highlights on the edges of the rocks where the sun hits them.

If you like this painting of Arches National Park it is currently for sale. Please contact me if you would like more information or if you are interested in buying the original piece. I always enjoy hearing from fellow painters so do let me know what you think of this desert scene. Painting landscapes like this is a great way to practice using bold colors and big shapes.