Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, USA

The Valley of Fire in Nevada is a very special place for an artist. The rocks there have amazing shapes and very bright colours. In this painting, I wanted to show the hot sun hitting the red stones against the cool shadows of the big mountains behind them. It is a great lesson in using warm and cool colours together.

Many students ask me how to paint rocks without making them look like brown lumps. The secret is to look for the different tones. I used some Burnt Sienna and Cadmium Red for the bright, sunlit parts of the rocks. Then, for the dark areas, I used Ultramarine Blue and a bit of Neutral Tint. This helps the rocks look solid and strong.

I painted the distant hills with a soft wash of Cobalt Blue and Lavender. Because the hills are far away, the colours should be lighter and more blue. This makes the red rocks in the front of the picture pop out more. It creates a feeling of great distance and heat in the desert air.

In the foreground, I used dry brush marks to show the desert plants and dusty ground. I also used a little bit of white paint at the end to add some very bright highlights on the edges of the stones. This brings the whole scene to life and shows where the light is coming from.