Pulpit and Altar - Zion

Falling Shadows - (Pulpit and Altar - Zion) - 9" x 12" oil by Greg Newbold

I Just finished another painting from my recent trip to Zion National Park. This formation is at the top of the road in Zion Canyon is called the Pulpit and the Altar. I don't know which one is which but I was attracted to the way these two stones were silhouetted by the falling shadows on the canyon wall behind.

Cropped view of the Pulpit and Altar

We had about one hour before I knew we would lose light so I was putting down paint as fast as I could mix it. The shadows moved so fast toward the end of this one, that I had about five minutes  at the end to paint the entire foreground before I lost the light altogether.

In Progress- about 30 minutes in

I only have one progress shot of this one and I don't have a shot of how it looked before I touched things up in the studio, but the foreground was pretty messy. There is something exciting about trying to capture a fleeting moment in the field that I find hard to replicate when working straight from photos. This one is now at my gallery Williams Fine Art. I have a sneaking feeling it won't hang around there long.