Sycamore Creek
Sycamore Creek – 11 x 15 – watercolor on 140# paper
SOLD
Now this is a little more my speed. Some abstraction and impressionism, but some realism, too. I painted this picture twice today. The first one used more glazing, more overlapping patches of color in the main tree. I put that aside and tried another where the leaf patterns were painted more wet in wet. This seasonal creek is really at the Placerita Canyon Nature Center. The trees are beautifully green now, but I liked them better when they were decked out in reds and golds along with the green.
Thanks to everyone for all your thoughtful and insightful comments about the abstract exercise and the experience of coming under the influence of a teacher, or a artistic friend with a distinctive style.
A propos of that, today’s art advice is a quote from Frank LaLumia, plein air painter, as quoted in the January 2006 American Artist magazine.
“When you are responding to the subject rather than painting in a preconceived manner, you will find yourself doing things spontaneously, differently. In this way, every year your painting will look more like itelf and less like that o your teachers or other influences.”
Abstract sycamore
This was an exercise in abstracting natural forms in my watercolor class. Our teacher, who paints marvelously, is encouraging us to think more in terms of abstraction and symbol rather than literally painting what we see in front of us. I ‘get it’ and am doing the exercises and such, but there’s still a part of me that wants a tree to look like a tree with all the leafy bits (although not TOO fussy.) I’m guessing that my style will even out somewhere between the two, under the influence of my own predilections, likes and dislikes and gentle influence of other teachers yet to come. I love the California school painters with their abstraction and wild colors, but I also love Sargent and his beautiful loose renderings that simultaneously reveal and suggest. And I adore the crisp geometric patterns of Dong Kingman and the sweeping emotional scenes of Emil Kosa and the controlled wildness of Charles Reid. All of them – they all touch my heart, much as I like early music like that of Talis as well as jazz (but only if it swings.) Must we fit in only one mold?
Synchronistically, I opened a random art magazine to a random page and came up with an interview with Tony Pro an oil painter. Pro relates how he had the opportunity to meet Richard Schmid (author of Alla Prima and many other outstanding books.) Pro says that Schmid was kind but honest in reviewing his work, and advised him to be true to himself and not to copy others. Pro concluded with what what is today’s art advice: “Don’t paint like someone else to impress someone – work only to impress yourself.”
Geometric trees may be sophisticated, but for now they just don’t swing. Maybe they will some day – I’ll have to wait and see.
California Byway
California Byway – 7″ x 5″ – watercolor
A peaceful country road in the Ojai area, a little northwest of Los Angeles.
There are still agrarian areas, even in Southern California, where the landscape still looks much as it did a hundred years ago (as long as you don’t notice the late model SUVs zipping by.)
When we take road trips we seek out these out of the way places off the beaten path where the late afternoon sun reminds us that it really is a golden state.
Art advice from watercolorist Rex Brandt:
“I advocate the study of other artists’ ways and indeed, I am suspicious of the student or teacher who professes neither knowledge nor concern about the ways of the masters of his field.”
Cactus Cottage –
Cactus Cottage – 5.5″ x 8″ watercolor
Here’s an impressionist sketch of a cottage garden with a picket fence- inspired by a street we walked down in Capistrano.
Very quick and loose, with a minimum of explicit detail. I like the rambunctious feeling of it. In the midst of all the cottage flowers mixed with California natives there was a large beavertail cactus and some other tall, ridged kinds. I like the feeling of new world meets old, duking it out for visual superiority.
Back Country Creek
“Back Country Creek” – 9 x 12 watercolor on paper
A spring day in a subdued mood!
Wistaria branch
Wistaria Branch – 9 x 12″ on paper
Today’s paintout outing took us to a house in Sierra Madre where the world’s largest Chinese wistaria vine is growing. Sprawling, that is, over two homes. The perfume from the flowers was intoxicating as we painted the vine in all its springtime finery.
This was direct-painted primarily with a large, flat one-inch brush with no preliminary pencil drawing . The tiniest springs and trailing vines were added later with a very thin brush.
I think it has somewhat of an Asian feeling to it, appropriate to a plant that is native to China. What do you think?
Ripley and Shadows – Daily Painting
Now that spring is here, Ripley spends more time outside in her doghouse than under my feet in my studio. I miss the company but I can understand the call of fresh air, birdsong and the opportunity to bark at the gardeners when they visit our neighbor’s house.
I did this quick painting yesterday as an exercise in negative painting and patterning. My objective was to describe Ripley’s shape by using dark background shapes. My other objective was to use more linked shapes rather than painting separate things. For example, her chin blends into her collar and her flank color blends into her chest.
Ripley sez: Did you miss me?
Near Skye
Scottish castle – watercolor on paper 8″ x 8″
Back in the 90s we went to England on business and had the opportunity to drive up to Skye, the home of my distant ancestors. This castle was nearby. I’m sure it would be prettier on a bright sunny day , but somehow mist and brooding moors seemed to fit perfectly.
Back on the home front, we spent this afternoon doing some gardening. After two years my right knee seems to finally have healed enough for me to work outside without concern for pain or undoing the slow process of recovery. So we vigorously trimmed shrubs, pruned the bougainvillea that survived the frost and tethered up a blue hibiscus that was being pushed aside by the bougainvillea. There’s so much work to be done in the yard but I’m looking forward to the exercise in the fine weather.
In the coming weeks, or weekends, mostly, I’ll put in our spring vegetable garden and transplant a few new plants I got at the Descanso Gardens spring plant sale – a fantastic twice a year event not to be missed.
Magenta Gold Iris
Magenta Gold Iris – 6.25″ x 9″ watercolor
Another of my iris clan. I’ll have to check the tag to see what the real name of this one is.
Palos Verdes Ride –
Palos Verdes Ride – 13.75 x 9″ – watercolor on paper
$100 Purchase from the artist
A few weeks ago, when we went down to Wayfarer’s Chapel for our anniversary, we drove through the Palos Verdes peninsula and I took a few pictures from the car along the way. One of them featured some large eucalyptuses, which I can never pass up the chance to paint. Unfortunately, this area is “no parking” due to extreme landslide danger, so I was not able to get out and sketch. But that’s why I always carry a camera with me. When I got home and took a look at my picture, I saw that there were some riders emerging from the grove. I hadn’t noticed them at all during the drive-by.
If you live in the area , I think we just approaching Portugeuse Bend, coming up from San Pedro. (Googlemap link below.)
