I created this illustration as a portrait of John Wesley Powell, the first American of European descent to run the Colorado River in the current day Grand Canyon. Powell's reverent fascination with the canyon's dramatic features are recorded in his expedition journal, and his poetic description of the area introduced this unknown landscape to the world. Powell would go on to speak passionately for the protection and appreciation of the Grand Canyon landscape, and following his lead, each year nearly 20,000 people raft through the national park.
"You cannot see the Grand Canyon in one view, as if it were a changeless spectacle from which a curtain might be lifted, but to see it you have to toil from month to month through its labyrinths." - John Wesley Powell
