Red Rock Canyon Painting, Las Vegas, Nevada – Buy now

A plein air painting from Red Rock national conservation area in Las Vegas, Nevada.

I planned to go at dawn.

I would paint glorious desert sunrises. I left the hotel at 6:15. It was only 20 minutes to Red Rocks.

I then got hopelessly lost. But hope is an anchor, and I did not give up.

Those of you who’ve known me for a while are familiar with the drill. The night before, I carefully copied down directions to and from my hotel. I sent maps to my phone. I double checked everything. I drove out of the parking garage, took one wrong turn, and proceeded to drive all the way around the city on the beltway.

Eventually, I did find the right road, so I exited 215 and drove out into the desert. I was rejoicing- but I rejoiced too soon. The road dead-ended in a half-built subdivision.

Turned out I was still on the opposite side of town from Red Rocks. So I executed a 3 point turn and drove straight across the city for about 20 miles, or 40 miles, or however far it was, and arrived at Red Rocks around 2 PM. Red Rocks was stunningly beautiful so I think it was worth it.

The day was wonderfully mild- not 105 as I had feared, and I was able to work on several paintings. Here’s the first one.

Red Rock Canyon Plein Air

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