Moran Point

Moran Point
Grand Canyon

16" x 24"
Oil on Panel

Moran Point on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon is popular viewpoint. It's named for an artist - named  'Moran' amazingly enough, except there seems to be a disagreement about whether this is referring to Thomas or Peter.  Whatever....

There is also a scenic Moran Point in Yosemite NP. And a more famous Moran Point in Yellowstone NP - this time definitely associated with Thomas. He made the place famous and it repaid the kindness by making him famous and successful. His paintings were also a factor in leading to the the national park designation for that unique area.

I became interested in this Arizona site while looking for reference material associated with Capitol Reef.

This has wonderful contrasts

I designed this with a late afternoon treatment. When painting I often establish the most dark and the light areas and then work from distance to foreground in landscapes. This painting was done by doing a more complete gray scale under-painting and then adding the color.

Perhaps it improved the unity

This painting is also in a 2:3 size ratio rather than more conventional 3:4 [18" x 24"], I think that this puts emphasis on the linear nature of the area but not as much as the 1:2 ratio used for 'Capitol Reef'

The downside is that the panel and any frame must be custom made.

The greys are very sensitive to light levels and processing in the digital images.

Framed in a modified plein aire style frame that I made