I spent a lot of time at Yellowstone National Park in 2019 and 2020. This was when I was first starting to get into painting, so I didn’t know much about plein air painting (or painting in general) at the time. Still, I thought I should try my hand at it since I’ve been inspired by Thomas Moran’s Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone since I saw it at the Smithsonian in 2003.
Looking back on it now, I regard this adventure as the beginning of my venture into landscape painting. The scale of the Grand Canyon and the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone dwarfs whatever intimate scenes I’m more attracted to, but no one who witnesses the place firsthand can deny its breathtaking majesty.
There are many less-frequented places in Yellowstone that I’d like to paint someday, but the learning curve for plein air is really steep–I’ve heard it described as one of the hardest things a person can do. So I’ll need to practice a bit more before I go back there to paint.
Lower Falls of the Yellowstone from the Lower Lookout
Lower Falls of the Yellowstone from Red Rock Point
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone from Brink of the Lower Falls
