High Desert Path, 2026 by Ray Patrick — original oil painting — 2026.030.025

Subject

A sandy path running back through desert scrub toward a blue range, with saguaro standing at intervals on both sides and cumulus piling above the hills.

Composition

The path enters bottom right and narrows as it goes, which does all the work of depth. The cacti are spaced along it like markers, smaller as they recede, and the cloud mass sits directly above the point where the path disappears.

Palette

Cerulean sky and white cloud, violet-blue mountains, and a foreground of emerald and olive scrub over warm sand. Small orange flecks are scattered through the green.

Handling

The cloud is worked with a turning brush in short curved strokes; the scrub is dabbed in short vertical marks of several greens laid side by side. The cacti are single upright strokes.

Medium and support

Oil on board. Heavily loaded in the cloud, with impasto ridges; thinner in the sky. The board's edges are painted white.

Signature

No signature visible within the painted area.