California Central Coast Plein Air Oil Painting – Farm near Nipomo
“Farm Near Nipomo”
8 x 10 oil painting
Central Coast, California, San Luis Obispo County
• SOLD
to a collector in Buffalo, NY
See more of my California Central Coast paintings here
This is the 2nd of three plein air paintings I did last spring in Nipomo, near the Dana Adobe. If you look at my previous painting posted a few days ago, you’ll see some trees and buildings in the distance. This is a “closeup” of one of those clusters of habitation. Because I wasn’t inclined to move my whole setup, I simply changed my point of view to “zoom in” so to speak, and continued with a new field study.
Mt. Whitney Portal Lone Pine painting – Eastern Sierra Nevada Landscape oil painting by Karen Winters
“The Way to Mt. Whitney”
(Lone Pine, Eastern Sierra, Mt. Whitney Portal)
18 x 24 inches
Oil painting on canvas
SOLD
Although this painting is sold, find more Sierra Nevada paintings here
These days I’ve been completing some of my Sierra paintings that I’ve been working on for awhile. During the holidays things got so busy that I didn’t have the time to bring them to finish.
Interesting facts about Mt. Whitney and the Lone Pine area:
Mt. Whitney (slightly right of center in the painting) is the highest mountain the lowest 48 states, and is the most-climbed peak in the Sierra and one of the most climbed mountains in the US. It is composed of granite and is a “jointed” formation. Looking at Whitney from its east face, a formation known as “The Needles” is directly to the left.
There is little rainfall most of the year, so the eastern slopes reflect that climate. Below there are alpine forests, but at the higher reaches greenery is scarce, dominated by gray granite.
Moonstone Beach Surf – Central Coast Cambria Oil Painting – with video – Karen Winters, artist
Moonstone Beach Surf
Cambria, California
11 x 14 oil on linen panel
SOLD
This was painted last April (2010) during a California Art Club paintout. The rain came down where we were painting at San Luis Obispo Land Conservancy sites, so some of us headed for the coast nearby. It was incredibly cold and windy, but I had a really good time
This is a video my husband shot and edited – some highlights of me painting there. Please let me know if for any reason it doesn’t play for you. It is hosted on the Facebook server, not YouTube.
Cambria Ranch – California Central Coast Plein Air Oil Painting by Karen Winters
“Cambria Ranch”
12 x 16″ oil painting
Oil on linen panel
See more of my California Central Coast paintings here
Eucalyptuses, how I love them, with their multicolored patchy bark like a coat of many colors. When I saw this stately old tree I knew I wanted to take some time with it, to appreciate the many grays along its flanks. The transparent underlayers of burnt sienna and red peek through here and there, just as underlayers of color are visible as outer bark layers peel off. I think that I will never tire of painting these majestic trees that seem to glow when side lit. We have a lot of them around LA but they are at their best when given a setting like a spring field, bathed in light. I want to paint another really large one, soon. My to-do-list grows daily …
Some of my other favorite eucs:
Rose Bowl Pasadena January Painting by Karen Winters
SOLD
Rose Bowl, with San Gabriel Mountains, in January
8 x 10 inches
oil on linen panel
See more Pasadena paintings here
The Rose Bowl is an imposing structure any time of year, but when the San Gabriel Mountains are dusted with snow, as they often are in January, it provides an extra-special backdrop. When the air is cold enough, the snow falls at altitude, but down in the Arroyo Seco, it provides welcome rain. Welcome except on January 1, that is.
I thought about putting in some people in red or purple or gold or blue jackets, but it occurred to me that if someone wanted this painting as a keepsake of a special bowl game that they might prefer to have a few people in THEIR colors, rather than the, um, rival team. Sound fair?
Interested in this painting?
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Mammoth Snowcreek Landscape Oil Painting – California impressionist oil painting snow scene
Snowcreek at Mammoth
6 x 8 inches oil on canvas
More Sierra Nevada paintings here
The combination of autumn russets and deep mountain blues at Mammoth was a compelling late fall image to paint. The soft scattering of melting snow brought an interesting texture that reinforced this transitional season. Soon the glittering golds will be gone and all will be covered in a gentle white quilt. I’ll have to return to paint that scene, too.
Willows are blazing with color everywhere there is a stream or creek in the Sierra. The Inyo National Forest is glorious to behold right now.
Autumn Enchantment – La Canada Flintridge – California landscape oil painting
Autumn Enchantment
11 x 14 oil on canvas
SOLD
See more La Canada area paintings here
Autumn. My favorite time of year. It reminds me of back to school, fresh pencils and crayons, an imminent coolness in the weather, Halloween, football games and the bluest skies of the year. Here in southern California, at least when I was growing up, the summer heat trapped a layer of haze in the sky. But spring and fall were crystal clear. When you put the blue of the sky against the warm complements of orange and gold – well, it’s just magical, and who could resist painting it. By December, the sycamores have turned and the first rains bring forth new green grass. Autumn comes late around here.
Update: This painting was done a few years ago, but I just drove through the area a few days ago and it looks exactly like this.
Colorado Street Bridge Painting, Pasadena, “Below the Arch”
“Below the Arch”
Colorado Street Bridge, Pasadena
11 x 14 painting
oil on canvas
SOLD
See more Pasadena paintings here
This painting of our iconic Colorado Street Bridge went home yesterday with a new collector. I always enjoy painting the bridge, and hope to appreciate its beauty from many new angles in the coming year. This was a larger painting based upon a 5 x 7 study I did a few years ago.
Lone Pine Plein Air Study – Sierra Landscape painting
Lone Pine (study)
6 x 8 oil on linen panel
More Sierra Nevada paintings here
I had hoped for a sunny day when we visited Lone Pine on one of our many Sierra trips last fall. But that time a storm was on its way in, wrapping the majestic peaks in shades of gray. But I was there and I wasn’t about to be discouraged. The muted tones actually added some interesting color that I wouldn’t have had any other way, and provided a soft contrast to the vivid yellow rabbitbrush which blooms that time of year.
I’m working on Sierra studio paintings based on this and other fall studies, and they’ll be posted over the next month or so.
By far the most annoying part of that day’s paint out was the swarm of flies that appeared as soon as I set up. I’m guessing there must have been free range cattle out there at some time – or where did they come from?
Sierra Landscape Oil Painting – Bishop Windbreak, Owens Valley by Karen Winters
“Bishop Windbreak, Owens Valley”
California Sierra Landscape Oil Painting
16 x 20 oil on canvas
More Sierra Nevada paintings here
The first time that I painted this stand of trees, I thought they were aspens. The leaves were similar in shape, but the trunks are not the characteristic aspen white. The trunks looked more like cottonwoods – but the silhouette of the shape was more poplar like, and didn’t have the rounded tops.
A little net searching led me to discover that the the tree is actually a Lombardy poplar – and it is a variation of the black cottonwood. The whole botanical name is Populus nigra sp. Italia. So it’s both a black cottonwood and a poplar – and I think now my curiosity is satisfied. Whatever they are, these stately trees form excellent windbreaks along pastures near Bishop.
