I always admire the accomplishments of athletes. In The Apex these rock climbers scale one of the pillars in Garden of the Gods Park in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This park is a registered National Natural Landmark that I strongly encourage you to visit. In this painting I am showing only the top third of the peak, so the climbers' accomplishment was very inspirational to me.
My goal was to emphasize the majesty of the peak, helping to make the accomplishment of the rock climbers stand out. I felt starting with an under-painting of drips on the peak would add vertical lines, much like the crevices in the stone. These drips serve both to emphasize the attributes of watermedia, but also to help create an illusion of height. I've intentionally left some of these visible in the lower part of the painting. The colors in the Southwest are consistent with my favorite color schemes, so this painting is pretty true to what you would see if you visit this wonderful landmark.

Archival giclee prints on canvas or watercolor paper also available.