High Desert Cacti, 2026 by Ray Patrick — original oil painting — 2026.018.014

Subject

Desert flats with two saguaro standing well apart, low brush between them, and a long violet mountain filling the upper third.

Composition

The mountain lies flat across the whole width and the two cacti punctuate it — one near, one far, set at opposite thirds — which is the only device establishing depth. Everything else lies in bands parallel to the frame.

Palette

Violet and ultramarine in the mountain, against sage, olive and pale gold in the flats. The cacti are a single acid green that appears nowhere else.

Handling

The mountain is laid in broad diagonal strokes following its own slopes; the flats are a weave of shorter horizontal marks. The cacti are one straight pull of the brush each, with no drawing and no correction.

Medium and support

Oil on board. Moderately loaded, the brush direction legible everywhere. The board's edges are painted white.

Signature

No signature visible within the painted area.

From the artist:

I love love cactus plants. I go out to the desert often to paint the landscape and often search out the biggest cactus plants I can find. Today was a good day.