8947 Verbena Trail
Jerry Yarnell – Inspiration of Painting PBS Television Series

A peaceful desert trail winds through colorful fields of blooming verbena and wildflowers beneath towering mountain cliffs and soft atmospheric skies of the Southwest. Delicate floral accents, rocky terrain, and distant hazy mountain ranges combine to create a serene wilderness scene filled with warmth, depth, and natural beauty. In this intermediate skill level acrylic painting lesson, Jerry guides you step-by-step through creating this dramatic floral landscape in a 158 minute session on an 18x24 canvas.

You’ll learn how to build a balanced landscape composition using winding pathways, layered floral groupings, and distant mountain forms to naturally guide the viewer’s eye throughout the painting. Jerry demonstrates how to block in the major landscape shapes first, then gradually refine details while maintaining atmospheric softness and harmony across the entire scene.

Special focus is given to painting desert wildflowers, verbena blossoms, rocky terrain, atmospheric distance, and subtle lighting effects using layered color, blending, and controlled brushwork. You’ll also explore how to create realistic depth and softness through carefully controlled values and softened background mountain layers.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll gain confidence in painting floral landscapes, desert scenery, and atmospheric mountain environments while learning how to combine detailed foreground textures with soft distant backgrounds. This is an excellent project for artists ready to strengthen their acrylic painting skills while producing a calm and visually captivating Southwest landscape scene.