8837 Southwest Desert
Jerry Yarnell – Inspiration of Painting PBS Television Series

This quiet desert scene captures a weathered adobe home resting in a wide open landscape, surrounded by scattered brush, rustic fencing, and distant mountains softened by warm atmospheric light. In this beginner level acrylic painting lesson, Jerry walks you step-by-step through creating this peaceful Southwestern setting in a 107 minute session on an 18x24 canvas, showing how to achieve both simplicity and depth in a seemingly sparse environment.

You’ll learn how to construct and paint adobe-style buildings with rounded forms and textured surfaces, along with techniques for suggesting aged plaster, subtle color shifts, and natural wear. Jerry demonstrates how to place fencing, gates, and desert elements with proper perspective to create a believable and grounded composition.

The lesson also focuses on creating expansive desert atmosphere using soft blends and controlled values to push distant mountains back into space. You’ll explore how to paint sparse vegetation like desert grasses, cacti, and dry brush using loose, economical strokes that add interest without cluttering the scene.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll understand how to balance open space with focal elements, create convincing desert textures, and use light and color to build depth and mood. This is an excellent project for beginners looking to develop confidence in painting architectural forms and wide, atmospheric landscapes with a calm, natural feel.