Airport Loop Trail - Looking Back

Walking the Airport Loop Trail again through pencil and watercolors, as I look back over my days in Sedona. 

Wilson Canyon Trail

Walking up Wilson Canyon Trail at the end of the day, accompanied by long shadows. The bridge at the trailhead where 89A crosses the canyon is yet another dynamic view worth seeing.

A view of the workspace

Still employing that old piece of aluminum foil as a palette -
it lends a wonderful array of pre-mixed colors.

The Arizona sketchbook,
opened to Wilson Canyon Trail page,
photographed before signing.

Devil's Bridge

Devil's Bridge is very popular because of it's scenic views and photo opportunities. 

Red Rock Beach

A travel sketch of boulders and sky reflections at Red Rock Beach. This is in the lower section of Sedona's Woods Canyon Trail. 

Woods Canyon

A quick sketch this morning of one of my favorite places along Woods Canyon Trail.

On The Way to Chicken Point

The view on the way to Chicken Point.

The palette, a simple piece of aluminum foil used with Sakura Koi watercolors tubes.

 

On Submarine Rock

In this foreshortened view of Submarine Rock, looking toward west Sedona and Coffee Pot Rock, that pinky-orange color known as "Sedona Red" got lost.  Tough to capture, camera and watercolors tend to go too far in either direction, between red and yellow. As for the foreshortening itself, to get a sense of scale, imagine the greenery on the rock to be the height of an average human.

Submarine Rock

The first view of Submarine Rock, emerging from a sea of pines.

Bell Rock Loop at Sunset

After four days of hiking, scenes from Sedona are beginning to make their appearance in my Arizona travel sketchbook. In this view at sunset, the foot traffic around Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte have been chased away as blue shadows pool across the flats and begin to flood the high ground.

Desert Broomrape

This travel sketch is from a February 2014 hike in the Spur Cross Ranch where Cooper's broomrape was found peeking out of the rocks along the trail. The four variations of Desert broomrape are all leafless, parasitic plants that live on the roots of native flora and are sometimes known by the more descriptive name of "burroweed strangler".

Elephant Mountain from Tortuga Trail

Today's offering is a sketch of the view of Elephant Mountain from Tortuga Trail in the Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area. The Aravaipa Running club has two long distance events scheduled for these trails on February 20th.