Laguna Canyon Oak

This pastel painting is done on birch plywood with a ground of pumice gel and blue acrylic paint.  The painting measures 24"X36".  I saw this scene the week before when I went painting and decided the next time I was down in the area I would paint it.  I parked about a mile and a half away though.  I could have parked in the Big Bend Wilderness Area and been right there.  So I packed my 40 pounds of gear to the site.  I really liked the contrast of the blue ground with the color of the dry grass on the hills.  I let the ground show through as shadows in the grass and also in the shadowed areas of the oak tree.