Love seeing the Canyon and the River. I had the opportunity to spend parts of six years there- while my daughter, a park ranger was stationed at the canyon. i scheduled trips to coincide with their annual paint out. Just wow! Complicated barely touches what is involved in seeing the canyon! So it was awesome to watch the seasoned painters tackle it. And you too. Your students can google the annual plein air events and see some of the work. Also some of the creatives documented a 3 week trip down the river as they stopped to create paintings, music, dance etc. I think its called Chasing the Light by Ed George. Well worth the search and watch. I found a couple of app links- Kanopy is one. Five years ago my daughter moved on to Zion National Park- so I followed. And enjoyed more annual plein air events there too. I found the painters to be so accessible and willing to take part in educational demos too! So much beauty and creative fun. Thanks for sharing!
Absolutely stunning. I saw the grand canyon as a child from a different perspective...top looking down. Your paintings really captured the beauty, especially the last one, the water looks like glass. I would love to see a tutorial of how you made that happen. 🎨🖌️Thank you for sharing! God bless you and your family.
Please show us the long videos and your sketches! I've kayaked the Colorado through the Grand Canyon three times and rowed an 18 footer in June of 2019. Such a special place and opportunity we've had! Again, please do share lots of your experience painting the canyon. I did a plein air trip this past new years. It was NOT. easy to simplify such a complex subject from the rim! Much gratitude!
Hi Brian, I had planned on videoing each painting but the logistics just made it too complicated. For some reason both my cameras (gopro and iphone) were not charging properly. So came back with hardly any video footage and hardly any photos. And I went straight to paint. No sketches. You sound like you have seen the river!
I am a new subscriber to your channel. I lead a small art group in Spain and I encourage the members to watch your demonstrations. Your themes are so helpfully in understanding painting in a realistic manner. I am so absorbed with everything you say and your method of delivery. Thank you very much.
Only recently did I discover your site, and I'm so thankful I did. After a fair amount of formal training and painting for a number of years, I ricocheted - as I am wont to do - from my easel to my desk, where I continued with a novel that was a long time in the works. The novel finished, I couldn't face the blank page any longer and returned happily to the blank canvas. Your videos have reminded me of much I had forgotten and how much I still have to learn -- which, of course, is a lifelong process. In my experience, most of the art videos I've come across are of the "how to paint trees" variety. Your approach is refreshingly focused on what I consider aesthetic considerations that matter. For that I am thankful, Ian. Keep up the smart work!
Hi Douglas, well first I am delighted you are finding the videos helpful. But I also have to say I slowed way down on the painting process for a number of years to write a novel as well. And illustrated. I will show those images for the novel one week. Best wishes.
I’m glad you enjoyed your trip......it’s fun to vicariously experience your adventure! I agree, determining and structuring your compositions would have been complicated and challenging, yet you did your paintings justice....they all capture the moment! The colors, lighting, rock surfaces and textures, not to mention the extreme physical exertion, all make for quite a memorable Plein air experience, as you have depicted in your paintings. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for sharing your beautiful Grand Canyon paintings and also your process of creating them. I just found your videos recently and am so glad that I did. I wrote the below comment on one of your videos from last year. Then I realized you probably would not see it so I've included it here. - After a series of painting classes, I knew there were some fundamental things I wasn't getting. Fellow students may not be able to draw as realistically as me, but their paintings would be so much more compelling and powerful. Your videos are helping me understand how to simplify the subject matter (something that has been so hard for me to do!), see shapes and values, and focus on the whole composition of a painting rather than individual objects. Your teachings on structure and composition are just what I feel I have needed to move forward, and the clear way you teach these concepts is making them stick with me -giving me hope that I can learn them and really improve my painting. Thank you for your sincere and generous help!
Thank you so much for your comment Alice. Makes me happy that you are getting the point of what I'm trying to say and applying it. That's great. With best wishes.
I think I would have been overwhelmed with the range of colours without the lights and darks. The paintings were extraordinary snapshots. I guess that is what you are trying to impress on us, tone and shape.
Hi Philip, you're right, the big values masses I had to figure out first. They were usually pretty obvious, light coming in one side, the other side in shadow. But they also were changing so fast you had to just decide those value shapes right at the start and stick to them. Glad you liked it. Best wishes.
Armand Zottola. Deep gratitude for making me look inside. Made connections between my recent painting and my early years. I found depth without fear in myself.
Wonderful trip with such rich, warm colours. An incredible place I have only seen from the top. You have captured the overwhelming grandeur so beautifully. Thank you for sharing.
I grew up in southern and central Utah and spent many hours in the Grand Canyon and 4 Corners area. You are so right when you say that even the shadows are warn. My favorite landscapes to paint are Capital Reef National Monument Park a few miles east of Richfield Utah, Kolob Canyon and areas around St George. Also not far from Richfield is the Big Rock Candy Mountain feature in a Song by Burl Ives. “ An American musician and actor”. Thanks for you great insight in to painting. Richard
I find your concise points on thum bnail sketches, simplifying shapes, and use of verticals to be really useful in planning a composition. I have been painting for a number of years but your tips have improved my work. I also enjoyed your Grand Canyon series.I found myself overwhelmed by trying to capture the essence of such an imposing and varied landscape when I visited the area.. Elizabeth
Great work! I live in Utah and have visited all the Nat. parks numerous times in and around Utah. Couple of suggestions for your next visit: Arches NP, Zion Canyon NP, and Monument Valley, & Bryce Canyon NP. There is so much spectacular scenery here, you'd go nuts with joy painting some of it! Lots of great hikes, (no river gear). Reserve waaay ahead as these are overly popular. Thanks for sharing! You've captured the essence of the Big Canyon!
I've seen quite a bit of the south western part of Utah. Did some great hiking in Zion (Angel's something was spectacular and we waded up to our chins in some really steep walled canyon for miles.) I want to go further up into the northeast part of Utah. Seems so much to see and paint all over.
I’ve been to the Grand Canyon and was blown away by the scale and complexity. Didn’t believe it was possible to paint it until I saw Edgar Payne’s work.
Thank you Ian for sharing with us these beautiful images- paintings of this amazing trip in the wilderness. Beautiful how you caught on the canvas the shapes of lights and dark and how you rendered these fugitive moments playing with cold and warm colors. Thank you for inspiring us.
Painting in the Grand Canyon must be like painting in a strange, new World. I noticed when I painted in the SW Desert years ago, that the light was so different and so were the shapes. It took several days to become accustomed to what I was seeing and to paint what I saw. This must have been a great adventure.
This trip is definitely on my list! I never thought that painting would be an extreme sport - too funny! I learn so much from your tutorials - just strengthening my observational skills. Thank you so much!
What a wonderful journey you have taken us on with you. I have never been to The Grand Canyon but kind of feel like I have now. A wonderful selection of paintings. I enjoyed looking at each of them and all so different despite the general location being the same. Thank you so much Ian. I loved this video!
Oh so jealous of your trip. It is on my bucket list to raft down the Grand Canyon to really experience it fully. I did not know there was a painting element on offer as well! Having done wild water rafting in the UK and in NZ and knowing how tiring it is to paddle, (as well as experience what it feels like to be thrown out of the raft first hand - twice) I will be choosing the motorised version for this trip. Sadly when we return to the UK from spending the winters in NZ via Seattle the trips are not running yet. That together with the cost and time element of a separate long distance journey is the only reason why I have not managed it yet. And now Covid . . . On the plus side I have discovered painting during lockdown and recently found your channel. Thank you.
Hello from a small island in the UK. Just found you by accident today & immediately joined up for your Tuesday classes which having watched a few of these past classes, I greatly look forward to studying. Thank you! All free and much appreciated. 🎨
It has been a very long time since I visited the Grand Canyon, and your enthusiasm leading up to the painting trip caught my attention. We arrived in mid-afternoon and returned the next morning before dawn, and your paintings brought back visual memories from fifty years ago. Lovely work, and so glad you had a memorable trip to this beautiful spot of earth.
I loved the single vertical painting which you likened to a cathedral. The colour and the mass of the canyon edge reminded me of Albi cathedral in France!
@@rumblef1sh Lucky you! I managed to drive down from my home in the UK to Narbonne in September 2015. I planned the route to take in the cathedrals at Cahors and Albi. Both had been on my wish list for decades. The scale and monumentality of Albi was amazing and the colours similar to the Grand Canyon. I came home vis the Millau viaduct and i guess the Gorge du Tarn is as wonderful a subject as the GC!
I have seen that cathedral in Albi. I loved that part of France. And I canoed down the Gorge du Tarn. There were caves up there in the turns in the river that made me think of the possibilities of ancient cave paintings. There were a lot of forms in the Canyon that made me think of cathedrals, or buildings imagined for a sci fi movie.
@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition @Ian Browne this is indeed an amazing part of Europe. I wouldn't want to compare the Gorges here with the Grand Canyon, but it is indeed the case that the first modern humans in Europe settled here. Cro-Magnon is a village in France, and caves such as Lascaux (Montignac village) and Chauvet (Cave of Dreams, Werner Herzog) and others we get to see... ART! Some of the first marks put down by what we might call modern humans were made not far from here. One does indeed feel a sense of something beyond mere history as well as connection to the paintings above. Added to which the sun is currently out! :)
My husband and I recently built a home/studio in S. UT. Our other home/studio is in western Washington. I so appreciated what you had to say about painting the SW. It's a whole different animal so to speak. The rock structures are so different from the NW. I'm still figuring it out - especially as I'm not drawn to painting a great deal of detail. It looks like you had a wonderful trip.
HI Kelly, your new home sounds great. And those rocks were a challenge. I used more cad red light in a week than I did all last year. Best wishes and good luck with your new painting environment. Lots of people have done it justice.
I can really see how complicated it must have been. I am watching all that rocks with all the colors and wonderful where would I have begun. You are indeed a great teacher hoping to lear a lot from you.
Hi Colette, I'd have to say that trip would not be a good place to learn to paint. Too complicated. But I enjoyed the challenge of it. Glad you are enjoying the videos.
I really enjoyed looking at your Canyon paintings and I feel that they convey the closest I would ever get to actually going there so thanks for the trip :)
Your willingness to share your painting process is invaluable, your searching, the times things don't work, your discoveries. As I paint here alone this gives me supportive and forgiving company as I make my way through my own learning process. What an adventure! Welcome home.
Hi Molly, glad you find that helpful. It seems more and more the direction the videos are going in a way. More process, better or worse, see it in action. Hope you are enjoying Mexico and your view! All the best. See you Saturday.
Loved your show and tell. I took this painting trip 10 years ago. Couldn’t believe how pthalo green the water was. Also painted and didn’t notice the water rising around me as the dam had released some water. Got off that rock in a nick of time. Some of my paintings were “ mixed media” after a big wind blew sand everywhere. Added a lot of texture! So happy for you to get to go on this ultimate painters paradise. The strata are very humbling.
Hi Kathy, it certainly has its challenges. It was really gusty a lot of the time so when the gust came up I'd have one hand on the tripod and my elbow on the turps cup and with the free hand keep painting. I managed to get each panel in the wet box before it flipped in the sand. And god there was a lot of sand! The variety in those rock faces were astonishing.
Once again watching how you use the large shapes in lights and darks and cool and warm colors amazes me how the paintings come together. I am now working on your principles and hoping for the best. Looks like a wonderful trip
Thank you Ian for sharing this wonderful trip with us. Your book: “Mastering composition” is the first art book I bought eleven year ago when I started taking art classes. I love this book and now I enjoy even more all the info you share with your subscribers. Thank you!
Agreed, I have just purchased Ian’s book and have started to make thumbnail drawings with grey scale markers of my stock of landscape photos. I love the process so far of looking at the big abstract shapes and values. -Greg
Helpful to me as I struggle with Western Australia gorges, deep fiery reds and flashes of sandstone! Never seem to catch the feel of them but your Show and Tell is very good help
Wow! Looks like a fantastic trip. but for me it would have been a challenge to paint. I probably would have just gawked and taken pictures to paint later. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing your paintings. They are all lovely. I was again struck by how you have simplified the shapes and colour masses and yet presenting an entire scene full of depth and light. As always a great learning experience.
How nice that you enjoyed green water! One is not always so lucky. I find that once one has a chance to do this, it returns to the top of the bucket list. I hope you get to do it again and I wonder how you would handle red water.
Hi Nancy, it is a very different view of the world down there compared to up on the rim isn't it. And that light just starting to hit the tops of the cliffs in the morning is so beautiful.
Hi Ian...sounds like a memorable trip! Thanks for sharing “all” you work from it. Of course I see ones I like best and your own critical eye of your work is a lesson in itself. I look forward to seeing which ones you spend more time refining on... down the road. Cheers - Greg
It's so interesting how a new landscape takes time to learn. In painting my local area, I am best painting my own garden which I understand plant by plant. Beautiful work, of course.
What a terrific getaway, thanks so much for going and for sharing, Ian! Enjoying it vicariously - and your paintings, WOW! Such yummy color:) Looks your amazing “quick draw” skills came in mighty handy! Welcome back, thanks!
Thank you for showing us all your work on the trip, in it’s fresh state without reworking. Diligently impressive to get 2 each day given the rigors of the trip. I imagine each has some sand embedded as proof of plein air authenticity.
It was rigorous wasn't it. When I got home I was exhausted. Hurt for two days. But really glad I went and thanks again for that email back in the fall or whenever it was that reminded me.
IAN, I SOOOOO ENJOYED THE PAINTING YOU DID ON THE GRAND. I did a series of watercolors on the Rio grande a few years ago, i was the only painter but persisted to do one a day....fantastic to do a painting trip, so very fortunate. Lovely. Don’t touch them. Do new paintings with thos as a reference, my opinion...
I'm glad you had such a fantastic trip Ian. A once in a lifetime experience. I enjoyed both the photos and the paintings. Thank you for sharing with all of us!
Amazing! That looks like it was the trip of a lifetime. Thanks for sharing your paintings with us. There are some in great ones in there. I would have loved some behind the scenes vlog footage of you all on the trip and what it was like to be there. Maybe on the next one.
I had originally planned on taking an extra tripod to film each panel as I painted it. But it was just too complicated and I had trouble keeping my cameras charged. I would have liked more video footage as well.
Thanks so much for sharing! Couldn't wait to see your adventure paintings, Ian! There's no comparison between your paintings and the photographs! Your (human) impressions have life and energy that transport us into your shoes in that environment. Be sure to write a brief description of your unique experience for each painting on the back of the canvas board . . . like a postcard to yourself. As I leaf through some of my past plein air sketches and read my notes . . . it all comes back, down to the scents and sounds of the moment. Headed to Nantucket next week . . . wish me luck!
I am amazed sometime pulling an old painting out of a box in the attic how exactly what you say comes back to me. The feeling of the being there that day. I think painting plein air so connects you with the moment that that moment comes back rich and full from the memory bank. Have fun on Nantucket. Good luck it is. Painted on Martha's Vineyard but never Nantucket.
Thanks so much for your wonderful videos! It's on my bucket list to Plein air paint in the Grand Canyon. (Not many shopping days left till Xmas lol) I have painted and taught for many years and I find new things to learn in your videos.
What a fabulous painting venue ! Wow, love the shapes the light creates there and how you captured it , could have been overwhelming for me.I have been to Grand Canyon many times and painted on the Rim, but this looks like an amazing painting experience ! 👏🏻👏🏻
HI Angela and Robin, it really was a bucket list item for me. I read about some other painters that did it 20 years ago and have always wanted to go. All the best.
Wonderful paintings Ian!!!!! Thank you so much for sharing your amazing trip!!!! Just a note that I started my watercolor journey following Roland Lee. If you have not heard of him he is a master of painting the vibrant Navajo Sandstone in Zion Canyon. I learned so many color insights from him on capturing that unique canyon glow. It is still such a challenge for me!!!!
Glad you liked the paintings. Thank you. I haven't seen his paintings but can image that glow in watercolor in Zion. It is redder I think than much of the Grand Canyon. More variety in color and rock type there. Sort of a geologist's Galapagos Islands.
Love seeing the Canyon and the River. I had the opportunity to spend parts of six years there- while my daughter, a park ranger was stationed at the canyon. i scheduled trips to coincide with their annual paint out. Just wow!
Complicated barely touches what is involved in seeing the canyon! So it was awesome to watch the seasoned painters tackle it. And you too.
Your students can google the annual plein air events and see some of the work. Also some of the creatives documented a 3 week trip down the river as they stopped to create paintings, music, dance etc. I think its called Chasing the Light by Ed George. Well worth the search and watch. I found a couple of app links- Kanopy is one.
Five years ago my daughter moved on to Zion National Park- so I followed. And enjoyed more annual plein air events there too. I found the painters to be so accessible and willing to take part in educational demos too!
So much beauty and creative fun.
Thanks for sharing!
Absolutely stunning. I saw the grand canyon as a child from a different perspective...top looking down. Your paintings really captured the beauty, especially the last one, the water looks like glass. I would love to see a tutorial of how you made that happen. 🎨🖌️Thank you for sharing! God bless you and your family.
Please show us the long videos and your sketches! I've kayaked the Colorado through the Grand Canyon three times and rowed an 18 footer in June of 2019. Such a special place and opportunity we've had! Again, please do share lots of your experience painting the canyon. I did a plein air trip this past new years. It was NOT. easy to simplify such a complex subject from the rim! Much gratitude!
Hi Brian, I had planned on videoing each painting but the logistics just made it too complicated. For some reason both my cameras (gopro and iphone) were not charging properly. So came back with hardly any video footage and hardly any photos. And I went straight to paint. No sketches. You sound like you have seen the river!
I am a new subscriber to your channel. I lead a small art group in Spain and I encourage the members to watch your demonstrations. Your themes are so helpfully in understanding painting in a realistic manner. I am so absorbed with everything you say and your method of delivery. Thank you very much.
What a beautiful place!,
It really was Veronica.
Only recently did I discover your site, and I'm so thankful I did. After a fair amount of formal training and painting for a number of years, I ricocheted - as I am wont to do - from my easel to my desk, where I continued with a novel that was a long time in the works. The novel finished, I couldn't face the blank page any longer and returned happily to the blank canvas. Your videos have reminded me of much I had forgotten and how much I still have to learn -- which, of course, is a lifelong process. In my experience, most of the art videos I've come across are of the "how to paint trees" variety. Your approach is refreshingly focused on what I consider aesthetic considerations that matter. For that I am thankful, Ian. Keep up the smart work!
Hi Douglas, well first I am delighted you are finding the videos helpful. But I also have to say I slowed way down on the painting process for a number of years to write a novel as well. And illustrated. I will show those images for the novel one week. Best wishes.
WOW, what an awesome collection! I've never been to the Grand Canton, never tried a plein air project! Very inspiring!!
I’m glad you enjoyed your trip......it’s fun to vicariously experience your adventure!
I agree, determining and structuring your compositions would have been complicated and challenging, yet you did your paintings justice....they all capture the moment! The colors, lighting, rock surfaces and textures, not to mention the extreme physical exertion, all make for quite a memorable Plein air experience, as you have depicted in your paintings. Thank you for sharing!
It really was a great trip. Thanks Ann Marie for letting me know you enjoyed my adventure, even from the comfort of your own home. Best wishes.
Thank you for sharing your beautiful Grand Canyon paintings and also your process of creating them. I just found your videos recently and am so glad that I did. I wrote the below comment on one of your videos from last year. Then I realized you probably would not see it so I've included it here.
- After a series of painting classes, I knew there were some fundamental things I wasn't getting. Fellow students may not be able to draw as realistically as me, but their paintings would be so much more compelling and powerful. Your videos are helping me understand how to simplify the subject matter (something that has been so hard for me to do!), see shapes and values, and focus on the whole composition of a painting rather than individual objects. Your teachings on structure and composition are just what I feel I have needed to move forward, and the clear way you teach these concepts is making them stick with me -giving me hope that I can learn them and really improve my painting. Thank you for your sincere and generous help!
Thank you so much for your comment Alice. Makes me happy that you are getting the point of what I'm trying to say and applying it. That's great. With best wishes.
What a great video and awesome views but more amazing the paintings from your own visual perception. Thanks so much. Blessings and take care.
Fascinating to see and hear the ways you broke these things down in order to paint them. Thank you very much.
I think I would have been overwhelmed with the range of colours without the lights and darks. The paintings were extraordinary snapshots. I guess that is what you are trying to impress on us, tone and shape.
Hi Philip, you're right, the big values masses I had to figure out first. They were usually pretty obvious, light coming in one side, the other side in shadow. But they also were changing so fast you had to just decide those value shapes right at the start and stick to them. Glad you liked it. Best wishes.
What a great trip, such beautiful ancient landscape and colour. Well done mate.
Armand Zottola. Deep gratitude for making me look inside. Made connections between my recent painting and my early years. I found depth without fear in myself.
Wonderful trip with such rich, warm colours. An incredible place I have only seen from the top. You have captured the overwhelming grandeur so beautifully. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Lesley. Glad you liked them. Very different view down on the river than the rim.
Beautiful paintings! How fun!
I like the last painting in your video. Nice contrast and composition. Had a feeling I was looking at a Cezanne for a moment. Thank you Ian!
I grew up in southern and central Utah and spent many hours in the Grand Canyon and 4 Corners area.
You are so right when you say that even the shadows are warn.
My favorite landscapes to paint are Capital Reef National Monument Park a few miles east of Richfield Utah, Kolob Canyon and areas around St George.
Also not far from Richfield is the Big Rock Candy Mountain feature in a Song by Burl Ives.
“ An American musician and actor”.
Thanks for you great insight in to painting.
Richard
Extreem painting, I love it.
Well named I think.
I find your concise points on thum bnail sketches, simplifying shapes, and use of verticals to be really useful in planning a composition. I have been painting for a number of years but your tips have improved my work. I also enjoyed your Grand Canyon series.I found myself overwhelmed by trying to capture the essence of such an imposing and varied landscape when I visited the area..
Elizabeth
HI Elizabeth, thanks for letting me know that the ideas in the videos are helping with your painting. Makes me happy to hear. Best wishes.
Thank you so much for sharing this With us! Interesting and beautiful!/ 🇸🇪🇫🇷
A very beautiful painting s Ian , the whole Beauty lies the way you have painted it, I am thankful for you Sir.for this video.There’s lot to learn.
Thanks so much Usha. Best wishes.
Great work! I live in Utah and have visited all the Nat. parks numerous times in and around Utah. Couple of suggestions for your next visit: Arches NP, Zion Canyon NP, and Monument Valley, & Bryce Canyon NP. There is so much spectacular scenery here, you'd go nuts with joy painting some of it! Lots of great hikes, (no river gear). Reserve waaay ahead as these are overly popular. Thanks for sharing! You've captured the essence of the Big Canyon!
I've seen quite a bit of the south western part of Utah. Did some great hiking in Zion (Angel's something was spectacular and we waded up to our chins in some really steep walled canyon for miles.) I want to go further up into the northeast part of Utah. Seems so much to see and paint all over.
@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition Angel's Landing, the Narrows was the slot canyon river hike. Yes I live in a spectacular state! Glad you've visited!
BRAVO, Ian‼️. Beautiful paintings 👏👏👏
thanks so much Ria and enjoy your workshop.
I’ve been to the Grand Canyon and was blown away by the scale and complexity. Didn’t believe it was possible to paint it until I saw Edgar Payne’s work.
It was a real learning curve out there. Used more cad red light on that trip than I've used in the past year.
Beautiful paintings. Glad you had a good time
What beautiful paintings from an amazing trip! Thanks for sharing!
You are welcome Lisa. Glad you enjoyed it.
Thank you Ian for sharing with us these beautiful images- paintings of this amazing trip in the wilderness. Beautiful how you caught on the canvas the shapes of lights and dark and how you rendered these fugitive moments playing with cold and warm colors. Thank you for inspiring us.
Glad you enjoyed it Hannah.
Painting in the Grand Canyon must be like painting in a strange, new World. I noticed when I painted in the SW Desert years ago, that the light was so different and so were the shapes. It took several days to become accustomed to what I was seeing and to paint what I saw. This must have been a great adventure.
HI Mimi, it was definitely an adventure. And I really had to focus to figure the colors out. It was so new and specific too.
This trip is definitely on my list! I never thought that painting would be an extreme sport - too funny! I learn so much from your tutorials - just strengthening my observational skills. Thank you so much!
I'm delighted Anna Maria that you find the videos helpful. Thanks so much.
Beautiful. What an opportunity you had for such an awesome trip. Thank you for sharing.
Glad you liked it Dianne.
What a wonderful journey you have taken us on with you. I have never been to The Grand Canyon but kind of feel like I have now. A wonderful selection of paintings. I enjoyed looking at each of them and all so different despite the general location being the same. Thank you so much Ian. I loved this video!
So glad you enjoyed it. There was an amazing amount of variety in the rock. Sort of a geologist's paradise.
Love the third painting in particular. I am amazed that you were able to capture some of those images with the quickly changing light. Great job.
Thanks so much. It clearly was not a landscape that stood still for long I gotta say.
Wonderful photos and paintings!
Thank you for taking the time for doing these videos. Again, each and every video adds a lot to my art journey. Thank you.
So great to hear about the trip and .see your paintings! What fun, and what interesting observations
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for sharing these wonderful paintings! Lots to learn from you!
Glad you like them Selma.
Oh so jealous of your trip. It is on my bucket list to raft down the Grand Canyon to really experience it fully. I did not know there was a painting element on offer as well!
Having done wild water rafting in the UK and in NZ and knowing how tiring it is to paddle, (as well as experience what it feels like to be thrown out of the raft first hand - twice) I will be choosing the motorised version for this trip.
Sadly when we return to the UK from spending the winters in NZ via Seattle the trips are not running yet. That together with the cost and time element of a separate long distance journey is the only reason why I have not managed it yet. And now Covid . . .
On the plus side I have discovered painting during lockdown and recently found your channel. Thank you.
Hello from a small island in the UK. Just found you by accident today & immediately joined up for your Tuesday classes which having watched a few of these past classes, I greatly look forward to studying. Thank you! All free and much appreciated. 🎨
Glad you found them. All the best.
Great paintings, Ian. Thanks for sharing this super trip.
You are welcome Halyna. Glad you liked it.
Temperature shift! Just what I need for something I’m working on today. I learn something every video.
It has been a very long time since I visited the Grand Canyon, and your enthusiasm leading up to the painting trip caught my attention. We arrived in mid-afternoon and returned the next morning before dawn, and your paintings brought back visual memories from fifty years ago. Lovely work, and so glad you had a memorable trip to this beautiful spot of earth.
love these paintings. Great to see how you structure them so clearly. A beautiful learning experience for us.
Thank you so much
I loved the single vertical painting which you likened to a cathedral. The colour and the mass of the canyon edge reminded me of Albi cathedral in France!
wow... the cathedral is just up the road from me. Amazing building.
@@rumblef1sh Lucky you! I managed to drive down from my home in the UK to Narbonne in September 2015. I planned the route to take in the cathedrals at Cahors and Albi. Both had been on my wish list for decades. The scale and monumentality of Albi was amazing and the colours similar to the Grand Canyon. I came home vis the Millau viaduct and i guess the Gorge du Tarn is as wonderful a subject as the GC!
I have seen that cathedral in Albi. I loved that part of France. And I canoed down the Gorge du Tarn. There were caves up there in the turns in the river that made me think of the possibilities of ancient cave paintings. There were a lot of forms in the Canyon that made me think of cathedrals, or buildings imagined for a sci fi movie.
@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition @Ian Browne this is indeed an amazing part of Europe. I wouldn't want to compare the Gorges here with the Grand Canyon, but it is indeed the case that the first modern humans in Europe settled here. Cro-Magnon is a village in France, and caves such as Lascaux (Montignac village) and Chauvet (Cave of Dreams, Werner Herzog) and others we get to see... ART! Some of the first marks put down by what we might call modern humans were made not far from here. One does indeed feel a sense of something beyond mere history as well as connection to the paintings above.
Added to which the sun is currently out! :)
Thanks for sharing, Ian, the turquoise choppy water was my very favorite - really great!
Glad you liked them Joani. The water down there on our trip was such a beautiful color. Sometimes it is more like a brown soup I've heard.
Thank you Ian. Just beautiful
Beautiful paintings Ian .
Hope to see a long video demo on painting rocks and rivers.. Thanks in advance!
Really enjoyed this, especially the idea of capturing the light in your mind as it was fading so fast.
Thanks Josh. Glad you liked it.
My husband and I recently built a home/studio in S. UT. Our other home/studio is in western Washington. I so appreciated what you had to say about painting the SW. It's a whole different animal so to speak. The rock structures are so different from the NW. I'm still figuring it out - especially as I'm not drawn to painting a great deal of detail. It looks like you had a wonderful trip.
HI Kelly, your new home sounds great. And those rocks were a challenge. I used more cad red light in a week than I did all last year. Best wishes and good luck with your new painting environment. Lots of people have done it justice.
I can really see how complicated it must have been. I am watching all that rocks with all the colors and wonderful where would I have begun. You are indeed a great teacher hoping to lear a lot from you.
Hi Colette, I'd have to say that trip would not be a good place to learn to paint. Too complicated. But I enjoyed the challenge of it. Glad you are enjoying the videos.
The second to last is my favorite. They are all beautiful! What a heavenly place.
Thanks so much Sarah. Glad you liked them
I really enjoyed looking at your Canyon paintings and I feel that they convey the closest I would ever get to actually going there so thanks for the trip :)
Glad you liked it. My wife feels the same way, closest she'll ever get to it too.
Gorgeous paintings!! Thank you for sharing them!!
Glad you like them!
Your willingness to share your painting process is invaluable, your searching, the times things don't work, your discoveries. As I paint here alone this gives me supportive and forgiving company as I make my way through my own learning process. What an adventure! Welcome home.
Hi Molly, glad you find that helpful. It seems more and more the direction the videos are going in a way. More process, better or worse, see it in action. Hope you are enjoying Mexico and your view! All the best. See you Saturday.
I enjoyed this summary and found it useful to hear your critique. Thanks,
Delightful. What an interesting opportunity to explore... Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it Kay.
Wonderful paintings and colour shifts.
Thanks Jo Ann.
Loved your show and tell. I took this painting trip 10 years ago. Couldn’t believe how pthalo green the water was. Also painted and didn’t notice the water rising around me as the dam had released some water. Got off that rock in a nick of time. Some of my paintings were “ mixed media” after a big wind blew sand everywhere. Added a lot of texture! So happy for you to get to go on this ultimate painters paradise. The strata are very humbling.
Hi Kathy, it certainly has its challenges. It was really gusty a lot of the time so when the gust came up I'd have one hand on the tripod and my elbow on the turps cup and with the free hand keep painting. I managed to get each panel in the wet box before it flipped in the sand. And god there was a lot of sand! The variety in those rock faces were astonishing.
Once again watching how you use the large shapes in lights and darks and cool and warm colors amazes me how the paintings come together. I am now working on your principles and hoping for the best. Looks like a wonderful trip
Hi Julie, that's the secret I think, big shapes of light and dark. Good luck!
Awesome looks like a great trip. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching Patricia.
Thank you Ian for sharing this wonderful trip with us. Your book: “Mastering composition” is the first art book I bought eleven year ago when I started taking art classes. I love this book and now I enjoy even more all the info you share with your subscribers. Thank you!
Agreed, I have just purchased Ian’s book and have started to make thumbnail drawings with grey scale markers of my stock of landscape photos. I love the process so far of looking at the big abstract shapes and values. -Greg
Makes my happy to hear Marie. All the very best.
Loving the process is the best teacher. Best wishes.
Each piece is gorgeous! Painting plein air is always so dynamic and exciting!
Thanks so much Reena.
Helpful to me as I struggle with Western Australia gorges, deep fiery reds and flashes of sandstone! Never seem to catch the feel of them but your Show and Tell is very good help
And the shadows are purple.
Yes I can imagine like the Grand Canyon, that landscape of yours would require some careful thought and color mixing. Good luck!
Wow! Looks like a fantastic trip. but for me it would have been a challenge to paint. I probably would have just gawked and taken pictures to paint later. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Joanne, I did my share of gawking and it was a challenge. Glad you enjoyed the video.
What a fantastic experience! You got some really nice works, thanks for sharing!
Glad you liked it Candi. Best wishes.
Thank you for sharing your paintings. They are all lovely. I was again struck by how you have simplified the shapes and colour masses and yet presenting an entire scene full of depth and light. As always a great learning experience.
Glad that is helpful Javanthi. Best wishes.
What a treat to see these paintings from your grand trip. They're wonderful, Ian.
Thanks so much Jane. Best wishes to you.
How nice that you enjoyed green water! One is not always so lucky. I find that once one has a chance to do this, it returns to the top of the bucket list. I hope you get to do it again and I wonder how you would handle red water.
That was very helpful thank you Ian.
fantastic paintings!
Congrats on a great trip and thanks for sharing.
You're welcome Lance.
Wow! Thank you for sharing. Stunning!
Hi Gayle, you are most welcome. Thanks and best wishes.
These are all beautiful paintings.
Thanks so much Kez.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful trip - your paintings are beautiful and really do capture and re-present the majesty of that canyon.
Thanks so much.
What a wonderful trip! I personally can”t imagine doing that, but it looks fabulous. Thanks for sharing!
My wife had the same response. What she calls my annual Ian vs Nature trip.
Great Trip
Quite a trip! I did the overnight mule ride 25 years ago and the light and colors were stunning.
Hi Nancy, it is a very different view of the world down there compared to up on the rim isn't it. And that light just starting to hit the tops of the cliffs in the morning is so beautiful.
thank you for sharing and taking me on this trip down through the ever-changing canyon. amazed that you could capture what you did
Thanks Steve. Glad you enjoyed the trip.
Wow looks like that was an amazing experience - very inspiring!
Hi Frances, it was great. Demanding. With best wishes.
Very enjoyable and just the right length, because I replay snippets to take everything in. Many thanks for sharing this.
Glad you liked it Jonathan. Best wishes.
Hi Ian...sounds like a memorable trip! Thanks for sharing “all” you work from it. Of course I see ones I like best and your own critical eye of your work is a lesson in itself. I look forward to seeing which ones you spend more time refining on... down the road.
Cheers - Greg
Hi Greg, I have some I like more than others too. I'm not sure now if I will do any larger work from them.
Loved it! So helpful. Just getting down to the essentials of this complicated environment is very helpful.
Glad it was helpful Nan.
So glad to see these! Thanks! Inspired me...
Thanks John. Glad you enjoyed them.
It's so interesting how a new landscape takes time to learn. In painting my local area, I am best painting my own garden which I understand plant by plant. Beautiful work, of course.
What a terrific getaway, thanks so much for going and for sharing, Ian! Enjoying it vicariously - and your paintings, WOW! Such yummy color:) Looks your amazing “quick draw” skills came in mighty handy! Welcome back, thanks!
Thanks so much Deb. See you Saturday. All the best.
Thank you for showing us all your work on the trip, in it’s fresh state without reworking. Diligently impressive to get 2 each day given the rigors of the trip. I imagine each has some sand embedded as proof of plein air authenticity.
It was rigorous wasn't it. When I got home I was exhausted. Hurt for two days. But really glad I went and thanks again for that email back in the fall or whenever it was that reminded me.
As always, thank you for sharing your insights about paintings. It was especially exciting to see all the paintings you did on your trip!!!
Thanks Jan. Glad you enjoyed the video. Best wishes.
So enjoying your videos, thank you!!
Glad you like them Jonquil. Thanks for letting me know.
IAN, I SOOOOO ENJOYED THE PAINTING YOU DID ON THE GRAND. I did a series of watercolors on the Rio grande a few years ago, i was the only painter but persisted to do one a day....fantastic to do a painting trip, so very fortunate. Lovely. Don’t touch them. Do new paintings with thos as a reference, my opinion...
So glad you liked it. I'm with you, I think they are done.
I'm glad you had such a fantastic trip Ian. A once in a lifetime experience. I enjoyed both the photos and the paintings. Thank you for sharing with all of us!
Glad you enjoyed it Pat.
Was looking forward to seeing what came out of your trip. Worth the wait!
Yes, I wasn't unhappy with the results. Glad you like them.
Amazing! That looks like it was the trip of a lifetime. Thanks for sharing your paintings with us. There are some in great ones in there.
I would have loved some behind the scenes vlog footage of you all on the trip and what it was like to be there. Maybe on the next one.
I had originally planned on taking an extra tripod to film each panel as I painted it. But it was just too complicated and I had trouble keeping my cameras charged. I would have liked more video footage as well.
@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition that totally makes sense. No power points in the middle of the grand canyon.
Thank you for generously sharing your painting 🖼, teaching and trip! What a great gift today.
So glad you liked it Laura.
Thanks so much for sharing! Couldn't wait to see your adventure paintings, Ian!
There's no comparison between your paintings and the photographs! Your (human) impressions have life and energy that transport us into your shoes in that environment. Be sure to write a brief description of your unique experience for each painting on the back of the canvas board . . . like a postcard to yourself. As I leaf through some of my past plein air sketches and read my notes . . . it all comes back, down to the scents and sounds of the moment.
Headed to Nantucket next week . . . wish me luck!
I am amazed sometime pulling an old painting out of a box in the attic how exactly what you say comes back to me. The feeling of the being there that day. I think painting plein air so connects you with the moment that that moment comes back rich and full from the memory bank. Have fun on Nantucket. Good luck it is. Painted on Martha's Vineyard but never Nantucket.
Thanks so much for your wonderful videos! It's on my bucket list to Plein air paint in the Grand Canyon. (Not many shopping days left till Xmas lol) I have painted and taught for many years and I find new things to learn in your videos.
HI Barbara I"m delighted you are enjoying the videos. Hope you get a chance to do the trip.
What a fabulous painting venue ! Wow, love the shapes the light creates there and how you captured it , could have been overwhelming for me.I have been to Grand Canyon many times and painted on the Rim, but this looks like an amazing painting experience ! 👏🏻👏🏻
HI Joyce, very different perspective from down on the river, that's for sure. Glad you liked the video. All the best.
I would LOVE to do a trip like this - total bucket list item. So glad you got to do this!
HI Angela and Robin, it really was a bucket list item for me. I read about some other painters that did it 20 years ago and have always wanted to go. All the best.
Beautiful! I think this was an experience you'll remember forever.
Yes Giovanni I suspect that is true. Glad you liked it. All the best.
Wonderful paintings Ian!!!!! Thank you so much for sharing your amazing trip!!!! Just a note that I started my watercolor journey following Roland Lee. If you have not heard of him he is a master of painting the vibrant Navajo Sandstone in Zion Canyon. I learned so many color insights from him on capturing that unique canyon glow. It is still such a challenge for me!!!!
Glad you liked the paintings. Thank you. I haven't seen his paintings but can image that glow in watercolor in Zion. It is redder I think than much of the Grand Canyon. More variety in color and rock type there. Sort of a geologist's Galapagos Islands.