Starved Rock, Illinois Illustrated Travel Wall Art

A Starved Rock illustrated print looking into one of the park's box canyons on the Illinois River. A single thin ribbon of water falls from a notch in the rim and lands in a shallow pool on the canyon floor. A huge rounded sandstone buttress fills the right side, its bedding lines running in horizontal bands, and maples in full autumn colour crowd the left wall and the rim above.

About the artwork

The painted treatment gives this one its weight. The St. Peter sandstone is built up in honey, buff and pale gold with cool violet shadow poured down the seams, and the rounded columns are shaded so they genuinely read as curved stone. Foliage is stacked in separate colour masses: crimson and rust maple at the left, gold and ochre on the rim, deep green in the shaded canyon. The pool at the bottom is dark jade with a lit sandy shelf. Cumulus and a clear blue strip fill the gap between the walls. Three lines of white type sit along the base: STARVED ROCK, STATE PARK, and a letterspaced ILLINOIS. Portrait, 2:3.

Why you'll love it

• Warm rock, not grey rock. The honey sandstone gives this canyon print a much warmer base than most waterfall art.
• Full autumn range. Crimson, rust, gold and green sit side by side without turning muddy.
• The buttress dominates. That one rounded column on the right is the reason people photograph these canyons, and it is drawn full height.
• A quiet waterfall. The fall is a slender thread rather than a torrent, which keeps the image calm.

Sizes and materials

• Paper — archival matte, rolled and unframed. Nine sizes from 8" x 12" to 30" x 40", plus A4-A1 for European frames.
• Matte canvas — stretched on a wooden bar, no glare, ready to hang.
• Framed canvas — solid wood floating frame in white, black, espresso or natural.
• Pigment-based archival inks, rated to resist fading for decades indoors.

Styling it at home

Honey stone and rust maple make this a natural fit for cream, caramel and warm white walls, and it is a good match for a room with leather or rattan in it. Natural oak framing disappears into the sandstone tones, as in the arched alcove photograph above. On a deep green wall the gold rim foliage lifts and the print reads much richer.

Shipping and care

Unframed prints ship rolled in a protective tube. Framed canvas arrives ready to hang. Keep prints out of direct sunlight to protect the colour, and dust canvas with a dry, soft cloth.

Questions people ask

What size should I get? The canyon walls run the full height of the frame, so tall spaces suit it. 18" x 24" fits a stairwell or entry; 24" x 36" keeps the bedding lines in the sandstone and the separate leaf colours legible.

Does it come framed? Paper and matte canvas ship unframed. Framed canvas arrives stretched in a solid wood floating frame in white, black, espresso or natural.

You seem to have two Starved Rock prints. Which is which? Correct, there are two designs for this park. The other is a flat vector illustration: simplified colour shapes, no brushwork, and the place name set across the top of the image. This is the painted one, with modelled sandstone, layered autumn foliage, deeper shadow and the three lines of type placed along the bottom edge.

What does the print say? STARVED ROCK on the first line, STATE PARK on the second, and ILLINOIS letterspaced below them.