This painting feels finished to me now. 

The reference photo has come back to the top of the pile several times but there was something about it that just wasn’t quite right. Finally, I decided to change the format from horizontal to square and move the road and ignore what the camera was saying about the distance being in sharp focus. The light of the warm sun across the reddish rocks in contrast to the dark storm building in the sky just kept nagging me. I needed to get this feeling on a canvas.

So, here is the final painting and a close up (not super close, but close enough). 

Hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving tomorrow.