Commission -- Joshua Tree Sunset

Just finished my second painting for the year and my first commission in a long time!

(The sun isn't as solid white as it appears in the picture -- my paintings can be hard to photograph!)

Anyway, the painting is 22" x 28" / 55.9cm x 71.1cm -- larger than I've been doing in a long time! Joshua Tree Sunset is a scene in the National Park of that name, one of my favorite places on the planet.

Enjoy!!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Aries

 As we all know, Aries is a zodiac sign which references a ram. In this case Aries is a desert or peninsular bighorn sheep.

Actually, this is the second time I painted a bighorn and named him Aries, so the painting is entitled Aries II.

In my opinion, bighorn sheep are the majestic animals of the desert -- so noble, so graceful -- and so endangered. The herd populations are slowly increasing in size, but they've got a way to go in areas that break up their habitat with highways, development, humans...stuff like that.

This scene is in Joshua Tree National Park, although I added the rock pinnacle that the bighorn is standing on, and I added the bighorn, too -- this one actually lives at the Living Desert Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Palm Desert, CA. I think I did an OK job of showing the space the way it would look with the bird's eye view, the pinnacle and the sheepie!

Enjoy!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or SouthwestSpaces.com

Aries II                                  18" x 24" / 45.7cm x 61cm

Small Joshua Tree Paintings Galore!!

This isn't exactly the newest painting of Joshua Tree National Park, but it IS one I forgot to post here on my blog!!

As before, it's 5" x 7"/12.7cm x 17.8cm and can be framed or, according to my notions, placed on a small mini easel for display. Enjoy!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

A Coupla More Small Desert Paintings

 A coupla more small (5" x 7" / 12.7cm x 17.8cm) paintings of Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA. Maybe three more to do, then I'll either place them somewhere where tourists might see 'em and get 'em as souvenirs, or I'll offer 'em at a boutique our church is having in mid-May. We'll jus' hafta see!

These will NOT appear on my website. They'll be sold with mini easels to set the pieces on, and I'd rather not have to deal with packaging up the easels and the paintings for shipping.

Enjoy!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Borregos Cimarrónes

Borregos Cimarrónes is the title of my latest painting. It's Spanish for "bighorn sheep" which appear in the work.

The area is south of Palm Desert, CA. Bighorns are found around here, although I admit I've never actually seen them in this spot. But adding them to the scene is not fantasy -- it's likely they do show up on these hills.

Otherwise, the hills and open spaces of this special place have long appealed to me, and I've painted this site numerous times, each a little different from each other. In springtime, the wildflowers color the area: yellow brittlebush and red-tipped ocotillo dominate the view. I included the spike-tipped rosettes of agave: people who know desert ecology have observed ocotillo and agave tend to appear together, at least in the California deserts.

Another thing I've noticed here is the ground isn't all a uniform color. I've noticed spotty regions of various tints, like green or red. The colors are quite subtle and don't show in the above photograph. But they DO show in the painting itself.

I imagine I'll do more paintings of this vista, although I'll have to continue working off of photos I've taken in years past. I've since learned that this entire area is part of a University of California at Irvine research center. My human presence could affect their findings and I don't want to contaminate their findings in any way. (Besides, in my old age, hiking in these places is hard on me now).

I plan (for now) on keeping this piece, although I may offer it as a print on Fine Art America. Ahhh...I sure love the desert!

Mark Junge

MarkJunge.com or SouthwestSpaces.com

Desert Cardinal

New painting of a desert cardinal (aka pyrrhuloxia), found in southern Arizona and New Mexico, and southwestern Texas, then south into Mexico.

Desert Cardinal                                                   8" x 10" / 20cm x 25"

I added just a little green over the branch in the lower lefthand corner so the green doesn't appear to end abruptly at the branch...but I haven't scanned the slightly improved version of the painting yet.

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Allosaurus and the Queen of Blood!

April has been sort of an interesting month, art-wise. We took a trip to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona (I needed to see cactus!) and a quick daytrip to nearby Joshua Tree National Park. We had hoped to see lots of flowers, but there weren't very many.

I finished a painting for a friend who wanted an image of herself as the Queen of Blood, a top-tier vampire in a spooky scene. I also made a quick drawing of an allosaurus, a Jurassic-period carnivorous dinosaur. I identify with being a dino, while the friend sees herself as the Queen of Blood!!

I think the Queen of Blood isn't too scary, but if you're sensitive to ghoulish/Halloweenish scenes, you may not want to look beyond the Allosaurus drawing.

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Allosaurus

The Queen of Blood

Starting the New Year

 Wow -- another year has slipped by us and is well underway!! Happy 2022!!

MY happy part of the new year will be delayed for a while -- The Wiffee and I both came down with Covid just before New Year's Day. Nothing all that serious (so far), mostly just fevers, coughing and being tired. But unless something goes really wrong, I expect by February we'll be our usual sassy selves.

Painting has pretty much ground to a halt for now, but at least I can share my last artwork from 2021. I hope you'll like it.

Meanwhile, thank you for your support!

A Light in the Forest                           10" x 08" / 25cm x 20cm

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Firerock

The latest painting -- Firerock, 8" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm.

Firerock (aka Red Mountain) is the volcanic mountain out there which I believe is on the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community south of Fountain Hills (NE of Scottsdale), AZ.

This is how it looked when I drove through there to set up for an art show in Fountain Hills. A storm had just cleared up, and the desert had all these beautiful colors. I added some clouds, and I deleted the homes and gated communities that had been built where I showed open desert in the foreground.

I went by at the right time. The following evenings, the area wasn't as colorful. On occasion, timing is everything! 😃

Blue on Blue: Western Scrub Jays

 

Blue on Blue: Western Scrub Jays is my latest painting. The size is 8" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm and features a couple of scrub jays that we find out here in the desert. This species of jay have no crests on their heads. The two are sitting on a monzogranite rock typical of those in Joshua Tree National Park, CA, USA.

I've always enjoyed being around these birds. They're bold, colorful and always seem to be cheerful; or at least, they cheer ME up! I should paint more of these!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com