This page tracks my progress in my goal of painting all the National Parks of the USA. (No, I’m not going to them all unfortunately – these are painted from reference photos.)
I began this challenge on February 4, 2023 with Big Bend in gouache. My initial plan was to do them all in gouache as a means of learning gouache, but I began supplementing with watercolor because I prefer it! Most of the paintings here were painted at either 4″x6″ or 5″x7″ sizes.
Progress: 54/63 parks (86%)
Breakdown:
Total paintings: 58
Painted between: February 4 and September 23, 2023
Parks with multiple paintings: Arches (2), Grand Canyon (2), Mount Rainier (3)
Gouache paintings: 13
Watercolor paintings: 40
Gouache and watercolor paintings: 5
Acadia
Acadia National Park in gouache on 4×6 Fluid CP. February 18, 2023.
American Samoa
American Samoa National Park in gouache on 4×6 Fluid CP. February 19, 2023.
Arches
Arches National Park in gouache on 4×6 Fluid CP. February 26, 2023.Arches National Park in watercolor. February 26, 2023.
Badlands
March 8, 2023. Badlands National Park.
Big Bend
Big Bend National Park in gouache on Bockingford HP. February 4, 2023.
Biscayne
March 9, 2023. Biscayne National Park in gouache on 4×6 Fluid CP.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in watercolor. March 15, 2023.
Bryce Canyon
Bryce Canyon National Park in watercolor on Saunders CP. March 17, 2023.
Canyonlands
Canyonlands National Park in gouache on 4×6 Fluid CP. February 11, 2023.
Capitol Reef
Capitol Reef National Park in gouache on 4×6 Fluid CP. March 23, 2023.
Carlsbad Caverns
Carlsbad Caverns National Park in gouache on 4×6 Fluid CP. March 28, 2023.
Channel Islands
Channel Islands National Park in Art of Soil watercolors. March 30, 2023.
This was an experiment in using Art of Soil watercolors.
Congaree
Congaree National Park in watercolor on Saunders CP. March 31, 2023.
Crater Lake
Crater Lake National Park. April 26, 2023.
Cuyahoga
Cuyahoga National Park in gouache. April 25, 2023.
Death Valley
Artist’s Palette, Death Valley National Park. April 27, 2023.
Major colors include Indian Red, Transparent Red Oxide, Ultramarine Blue, Potter’s Pink. Nontoxic teal made from Phthalo Blue, Phthalo Green, Titanium White.
Denali
Denali National Park in watercolor on Fabriano Artistico 300lb CP. April 29, 2023.
Dry Tortugas
Dry Tortugas National Park. May 1, 2023.
Everglades
Everglades National Park in watercolor on Fabriano Artistico 300lb CP. May 2, 2023.
Gates of the Arctic
Northern lights at Gates of the Arctic National Park, in watercolor on Fabriano Artistico 300lb CP. May 4, 2023.
Gateway Arch
Gateway Arch in gouache. May 5, 2023.
Glacier
Fireweed and mountains at Glacier National Park in watercolor on Milford 140lb cold press. May 12, 2023.
Limited palette colors: Phthalo Blue RS, Phthalo Turquoise, Quin Magenta, Opus, Rich Green Gold
Glacier Bay
Glacier Bay National Park in watercolor on Jackson’s TR CP 140lb. May 13, 2023.
Limited palette colors: Phthalo Turquoise, Phthalo Blue RS, Indigo, Ultramarine Blue
Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon National Park in watercolor on Milford 140lb cold press. May 11, 2023.Grand Canyon II, based on a photo by Courtney L. Wilson. June 3, 2023.
Limited palette colors: Indian Red, Quin Red, Yellow Ochre, Benzimida Orange, Smalt, Phthalo Blue RS
Grand Tetons
Grand Tetons National Park in watercolor, from a class by Shelby Thayne. March 18, 2023.
Great Basin National Park in watercolor. May 13, 2023.
Limited palette colors: Quin Gold, Potter’s Pink, Phthalo Blue RS, Transparent Red Oxide
Great Sand Dunes
Great Sand Dunes in gouache. May 14, 2023.
Great Smoky Mountains
Great Smoky Mountains in watercolor. May 16, 2023.
Guadalupe Mountain
Guadalupe National Park in watercolor on Jackson’s TR CP 200lb. May 20, 2023.
Haleakala
Haleakala National Park in watercolor on Jackson’s TR CP 200lb. May 25, 2023.
Hawaii Volcanoes
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. May 29, 2023.
Hot Springs
Hot Springs National Park. June 4, 2023.
Indiana Dunes
Indiana Dunes National Park in watercolor on Etchr Perfect Sketchbook. June 7, 2023.
Isle Royale
Isle Royale National Park on Kilimanjaro 300lb CP. June 9, 2023.
Joshua Tree
Joshua Tree National Park. June 12, 2023.
Katmai
Katmai National Park. June 15, 2023.
Kenai Fjords
Kenai Fjords National Park. June 19, 2023.
King’s Canyon
King’s Canyon National Park in gouache. July 1, 2023.
Kobuk Valley
Kobuk Valley National Park. July 3, 2023.
Lake Clark
Lake Clark National Park in gouache. July 4, 2023.
Lassen Volcanic
Lassen Volcanic National Park. July 8, 2023.
Mammoth Cave
Mammoth Cave National Park. July 13, 2023.
Mesa Verde
Mesa Verde National Park. July 15, 2023.
Mount Rainier
Mt. Rainier in watercolor and gouache on Etchr Perfect Sketchbook. July 16, 2023.Mount Rainier National Park in watercolor and gouache on Etchr Perfect Sketchbook. July 20, 2023.Mount Rainier Layered Mountains, on Nujabi paper. July 22, 2023.
New River Gorge
New River Gorge National Park in watercolor and goauche. July 25, 2023.
North Cascades
North Cascades National Park. July 30, 2023.
Olympic
Olympic National Park, on Bee Paper. July 23, 2023.
Petrified Forest
Petrified Forest National Park. August 5, 2023.
Pinnacles
Pinnacles National Park in gouache, on Bee Paper. August 18, 2023.
Redwood
Redwood National Park in gouache on Bee Paper. September 3, 2023.
Rocky Mountain
Rocky Mountain National Park’s Dream Lake in watercolor, on Lanaquarelle CP. September 4, 2023.
Saguaro
Saguaro National Park on Arches CP. September 6, 2023.
Sequoia
Sequoia National Park. September 8, 2023.
Shenandoah
Shenandoah National Park on Arches CP. September 23, 2023.
