Tree of Hope – Acrylic painting by Alexander “Rio” Rodríguez
Painted on June 3, 2025
I love walking in parks and especially hiking in National Parks (NP). I’ve been to Joshua Tree NP, Shenandoah NP, Acadia National Park and the Grand Canyon.
At the start of June of 2025, I was planning on starting a commission and I just couldn’t start the painting. For some reason, I figured it wasn’t going to come out the way I wanted. And so I went looking for inspiration from my online teachers and found a tutorial for this painting by Joni Young.
This image of a tree with bright greens and yellows was the result of me breaking out of that frame of mind. I love how the tree pops out of the gray background and reminds me of all those parks that I’ve been to in the past.
When I look at this painting, I feel hopeful and a calming serenity in my mind.
My beautiful wife, Evelyn, took one look at this canvas and exclaimed, “I LOVE IT!”. Needless to say, it’s in her office wall. Smile.
I hope you like my paintings. If you are interested in purchasing one of my paintings, contact me at art@rodspace.com.
Bio: my name is Alex and I’ve recently started on a journey to explore how to paint in Acrylics after many years where I limited myself to drawing in pencil and pen. I’ve always enjoyed drawing and sketching but started painting with Acrylic in August of 2024. I plan to explore airbrushing, digital painting and fluid/dutch pours in the future.
Provenance: E. Robles Private Collection.
Pigments and support: W&N Galeria Hookers Green Liquitex Mars Black, Liquitex Titanium White, Galeria Yellow Ochre, and Amsterdam Burnt Sienna, Neutral Gray and Mars Black (for the background). This painting was painted on an acid free, 9×12, watercolor paper weighing 290 gsm which was double primed with white gesso.
