Illo Friday – Citrus
“Twin Oranges” – 6 x 8 – oil on canvas panel, mounted on hardboard – SOLD
These small oranges were spotted at the Old Mill in San Marino, home of the California Art Club.
I loved the way they were shining in the sun, so reminiscent, to me, of the California I remember from my childhood when the northern end of the San Fernando Valley was still filled with orange groves, not strip malls.
This is my entry for this week’s Illustration Friday theme – “Citrus”
Fulmer Lake in Idyllwild
“Fulmer Lake” – 15″ x 11″ – watercolor on paper
I don’t have the opportunity to paint water too often, so this weekend was a special treat as we went, among other places, to Fulmer Lake in Idyllwild, California as some members of our watercolor class convened for a weekend plein air paintout.
It was a weekend of intense learning, practicing and friendship, and I loved every minute of it. This painting, which was done relatively quickly as the sun was setting behind the trees of Lake Fulmer, was both fun and challenging. Parts of it were painted wet into wet, while others were glazed wet over dry.
One of the biggest challenges was the constant breeze off the lake, which dried the paper very quickly. There was little time to dawdle or deliberate.
To answer a question that someone asked recently “calligraphic brushstrokes” are the final marks put on a paper that suggest branches, trees, weeds, iron railings, crevices in rocks, phone lines … just about anything that is a darker linear accent. They may be curving, staccato, dot-like, straight – any shape that serves the purpose. In this ainting, the branches in the yellow tree are calligraphic in nature.
The limited palette of warm and cool colors were chosen to convey calmness and serenity, with a late afternoon glow.
