Big Cottonwood Creek in October

I painted this piece on location in Big Cottonwood Canyon in Utah, at one of my favorite spots. It had a particular raking light at one brief period during late afternoon, so I went back to the spot over several days at that time, to catch that particular light hitting the rocks and water.
I use many brands of pastels, and my favorite colors are handmade. I often crush bits of old pastels down to dust, and add water, mixing it into a new pastel stick. These mixed colors always seems to be a very useful neutral/grey that is perfect for a particular landscape color. The surface is archival board prepared with my own acrylic color, (a rust red tone) and with pumice powder added to the acrylic, so that it has a sanded surface when it dries. I generally use a red oxide color as a background.