I begin this painting by painting the sky using a wet-in-wet technique. I duplicate the same colors in the river below, and while both are drying lay in the yellow-golds of the Autumn Cottonwoods [...]

Notice how quickly I start to shape the elements working from broad loose passages of lighter pigments to darker values as the painting progresses. It is hard to tell here because everything is [...]

Notice how I use negative painting to shape the foliage in the middle ground and a few of the rocks in the foreground. Now I move back and forth from distance to foreground.

Now things start to take shape as I model the cliffs and place some of my darks in the foliage. From here on out I will be applying successively darker glazes to create a rich contrast of values.

As the painting nears completion, I finish up the foreground rock details, the bushes on the lower left and add realism to the water by indicating ripples and current.

The finished painting, “Virgin Beauty in Zion”, transparent watercolor by Roland Lee”

Virgin Beauty in Zion – painting of Virgin River and the Watchman in Zion National Park by Roland Lee. I am using a sheet of 26 x 40 Arches cold press paper.