*Mammoth Hot Springs*

Yellowstone National Park

This post is going to be a little bit of a short one. Last month we were able to spend a week in Yellowstone with family for our annual camping trip. And while I did bring my paints, I didn’t have as much time to paint as I would have liked. Being on a family trip definitely limits your painting time! But I managed to get up early and take some time to paint some of the views that we got to explore. Our campsite alone was a beautiful spot and just being outside and seeing that beautiful part of the world was a worthwhile experience.

The first couple days of course were spent settling in and going into the park. I brought three panels and my gouache paints, and my goal was to fill as much in as I could. we visited the Old Faithful lodge and surrounding sites, including grand prismatic spring. I would love to paint the hot pots there in person someday! But this trip was not that time. Being able to see them was very cool!

One difficulty of getting out to paint is that some of the days we were in the park, it was really rainy and windy. The weather made hiking around difficult, let alone setting up my paints. On the windiest day, we stayed in West Yellowstone and went to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center. I was able to do some gouache studies of the bears and wolves that have been rescued and are kept there. I highly recommend stopping in! Especially if you have had bad luck with seeing wildlife, like we did.

After some cold days, the weather cleared up a little bit and we headed back into the park. This time to Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the surrounding areas. I was determined this day to get some painting in, so while everyone was eating lunch I ran over to artist’s point to get a painting. I wanted to paint the famous viewpoint, but got too nervous by how many people were just milling about in the area. I may have gone off the trail a bit and given my family members a heart attack because they couldn’t find me and we had no cell service. I didn’t even get a great painting. So I learned a valuable lesson that day — always set up where you can be found, and just pick the pretty view, even if there are millions of onlookers.

*Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, looking away from Artist’s Point*

After lots of hikes in the rain, seeing some beautiful sites, getting sun and wind and rain of all kinds, we were on our final day to pack up and head out. I decided to get up a little early to paint the view near our campsite. In my opinion, doing a subpar painting is better than nothing, so though the view wasn’t spectacular or even very interesting, I felt drawn to the wide open sky and pine trees, looking out at West Yellowstone and the boundary of the park. There was a little stream that helped my composition a bit.

Despite there being limited time and opportunities, and my paintings ending up not being as successful as they could have been, I am glad I made an effort to paint while on this family camp out. Yellowstone is a beautiful place, and I am always happy to spend time there, and in the outdoors. I learned a few things, but generally I had a great time getting to know my in-laws better and connecting more as a family. Though I would love to go back someday only to paint! There were scenes so inspiring and I want to be able to dedicate more time and attention to capturing those beautiful places.

Artist Travels: Yellowstone National Park

Painting Process: Fall with the Grandkids

Artist Travels: Switzerland Part 2