Watercolor Prints are Here!

I’m doing a trial run of selling watercolor prints. I ordered a few and I’ll list them for sale. If there is enough interest and I can get them shipped with little-to-no hiccups, then I will order more and in some larger sizes.

Right now I have these available to order as giclée prints. Giclée is a printing method that ensures vibrant color and fantastic detail using archival inks. These are printed on acid-free, archival paper that has a matte finish and a subtle watercolor texture. I’m really happy with the print quality.

There are only a few available for each of the 5x7 and 8x8 prints. You can order them here or click on any photo and it’ll take you to the link to purchase.

Sundial Peak and Lake Blanche - Brighton, UT

Lower Calf Creek Falls - Boulder, UT

Babylon Arch - Hurricane, UT

Coyote Gulch - Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Corona Arch - Moab, UT

I have decided that Corona Arch here won’t be available in any print larger than 8x8. The original painting is about 5x5 inches and when enlarged, the stars will start to look weird as they are enlarged too. Someday, I’ll repaint this on larger paper so it can make for a prettier print in bigger sizes.

What should I paint next?? I have a few pretty places on my list from the Uinta Mountains in Utah AND also a few spots in California. Stay tuned.

Babylon Arch & Lower Calf Creek Falls Watercolors

A few months back I finished these two paintings of Babylon Arch and Lower Calf Creek Falls. Both of these beautiful spots are in southern Utah and they are seriously two my all-time favorite hikes in Utah.

Babylon Arch is near Hurricane, UT and is part of the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area. It’s a beautiful hike through some little canyons and you get a beautiful view of the Virgin River before descending a sandy slope to the arch. Late afternoon is a wonderful time to go for some really amazing light.

If you’d like to purchase a sticker of this artwork, click here!

Lower Calf Creek Falls is in southern Utah too, but closer to Boulder and Bryce Canyon National Park. As the crow flies, it’s about halfway between Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Parks. It’s a really wonderful hike through a small canyon and along a creek. There are sections that are loose sand, and the hike is a bit long for kids at about 6.5 miles roundtrip. But the waterfall at the end is so worth it! You can even find thousand-year-old pictographs on a canyon wall. In the summer I bet it’s very hot, but you can swim in the icy water. We hiked in early April, so it was warm enough to enjoy the water on our tired feet, but still cool enough to not be miserable.

If you’d like to purchase a sticker of this artwork, click here!

My kids informed me that my time lapse videos are too short to gain many viewers or subscribers on YouTube, so I combined both of these paintings into one. They can stop giving me crap now.

Materials (many of these are affiliate links):

Daniel Smith Watercolor
Trekell Watercolor Brushes
daVinci Travel Watercolor Brushes
Pocket Palette (x2)
Grumbacher Miskit Masking Fluid
Fluid Cold Press Watercolor Paper
Phone Holder/Ring Light Thingie (quite handy!)

Have any of you been to one or both of these beautiful spots??

Sundial Peak Watercolor

I have been struggling to have the motivation to paint the last month or two. I really want to make more paintings that I can turn into stickers and maybe even sell as prints, but motivation just hasn’t been there. My kids are back to attending school in-person too, so it’s not like I don’t have the time. Sometimes it’s kind of like exercise: when I don’t feel like doing it, if I force myself, I feel so much better afterward and feel glad that I pushed myself.

This was my mood the other night, so I made myself a mug of hot tea, put some Star Trek: Discovery on my iPad and set to work on a new painting. I wanted to do another starry night sky, so I chose a mountain that is relatively close to home rather than a spot in southern Utah: Sundial Peak and Lake Blanche. Lake Blanche is in Big Cottonwood Canyon and it’s a hike I really want to do this year. It’s more challenging than ones we’ve done before, so I haven’t been able to go with my kids. I have heard that we can backpack up there too, so I’m going to try and convince my oldest to go backpacking with me up there. The promise of a lake with fish should be enough.

By the way, I bought myself a second Pocket Palette so I can keep my warm and cool colors separate and I am loving it!

I chose not to go over this one with black ink. I felt it really didn’t need it. I also need to stop using blue painter’s tape and get some proper masking tape. I keep having issues with the tape tearing the paper. I’m betting thicker paper may help too.

I don’t know if I will turn this one into a sticker. I like how it turned out, but there are a few tweaks I’d like to make to the colors before I will be happy with making it a sticker. Plus, it’s part of National Forest land, not sure my “I heart public lands” verbiage really works. Should I do something else? Maybe a short quote about wilderness or exploration? I will have to think on it for a bit.

In the meantime, here’s a time lapse of how I made this painting:

By the way, are you following my YouTube channel? If not, here’s the link. My kids keep telling me I need to post more, so I’m working on that. The fact that I have no formal video-editing skills is quite apparent.

Here are the materials I used for this painting (many of these are affiliate links):

Daniel Smith Watercolor
Trekell Watercolor Brushes
daVinci Travel Watercolor Brushes
Pocket Palette (x2)
Grumbacher Miskit Masking Fluid
Fluid Cold Press Watercolor Paper
Phone Holder/Ring Light Thingie (quite handy!)

I never regret forcing myself to paint… but occasionally, I start a painting and never finish. I have a painting started on my desk right now, and I’m not sure if I will finish it. I want to do two more paintings on Utah’s public lands and then I will offer a deal on buying the whole set of stickers. I need to get that finished.

Any suggestions on beautiful spots you’d like to see painted?? I have some ideas saved, but I would love to hear more; even from spots that are not in Utah!