Huntington Hotel Palms – Pasadena – Karen Winters Daily Painting
“Huntington Hotel Palms” – 9 x 12 oil on canvas
Paintout report:
It was a picture perfect day in Southern California, although it didn’t start out that way. We had been getting a little early taste of “June Gloom” which meant that a low marine layer hovered over much of the southland until it burned off around 12:30. I had anticipated this happening, so I didn’t start to paint the sky until afternoon – I spent my time blocking in the trees, lawn and palms, knowing that I could change the color to represent the warm light when the sun came out. A purple jacaranda tree had started blooming, and some bird of paradise plants provided welcome contrast to all the green.
We arrived around 10:30 and I found my chosen spot on the Terrace balcony – right outside the tea room. I had a panoramic view of the great lawn and this clump of palms attracted my attention. The paintout was organized by the Laura Segil Gallery as a kickoff to the Huntington Artist in Residence program. One of the most enjoyable parts of the day was taking time to chat with all the passersby who were strolling after Mothers’ Day brunch or perhaps were guests of the hotel. The hotel is the former Ritz Carlton, but is now part of the Langham Hotel chain.
Altogether, a delightful way to spend the day. Since my two kids are out of town, we will defer Mothers’ and Fathers’ Days (and a passel of birthdays) until we are all together again sometime in June. But they did send me a beautiful big bouquet of roses which I adore.
Mountain Sketch – Karen Winters Daily Painting
“Mountain Sketch”
approx 8.5 x 11 watercolor
Well, I’m in countdown mode again – looking forward to the Sierra Madre Art Fair benefitting Friends of the Sierra Madre Library in (where else?) beautiful Sierra Madre, California, just a bit northeast of Pasadena.
So I’ll be posting some smaller sketches and paintings this week as I get my framing completed and gather together other items for sale.
This sketchbook study was painted with watercolor first – then the ink was added. It’s a little different from the way I usually work, but my objective was to think about color and shape more than line – hence the “reverse” order.
Laguna Sunset – Crescent Cove – Oil Painting – Karen Winters
“Laguna Sunset (at Crescent Cove)” – 16 x 20 oil on canvas
SOLD
Although this painting is sold, I have others. Click this link to write me.
This is another of the paintings I’ve taken to the Huntington for the Art Matters event this Friday night, Saturday and Sunday. The inspiration was the small beach called Crescent Cove or perhaps Crescent Bay in Laguna Beach. I’ve seen people refer to it by both names. We were there in late March and stayed until the sun went down, enjoying every last bit of the beautiful sunset.
We Two – La Canada Flintridge Trail – Karen Winters Oil Painting
“We Two” – (La Canada Flintridge Trail) – 12 x 16 oil on canvas
UPDATE … I took the painting to the show today (Saturday) and was happy to find out that it won Best in Show. So I think I made a good decision to choose this one to enter.
Like the study that preceded it (Fall in Winter in La Canada), this painting was inspired by a walk my husband and I took last winter along the Flint Canyon Trail in La Canada, our home town. The sycamores were blazing with autumn color, even though winter was on the way. I am keeping this painting for sentimental reasons, but if anyone is interested, I can make prints. I’m entering this in an upcoming show, one of the many I’ve been preparing for.
If you live in or near La Canada, the location of this painting is very near the little old stone bridge at Berkshire which goes over the Flint Canyon creek. This is a part of the equestrian trail that is to one side of the creek.
Malibu Creek Afternoon by Karen Winters – oil painting – Santa Monica Mountains
“Malibu Creek Afternoon” 16 x 20 oil on canvas
SOLD
See more of my Malibu paintings here
A few weeks ago we had the pleasure of visiting Malibu Creek State Park, deep in the heart of the Santa Monica Mountains. While our children were growing up we made many visits to ponds and hiking trails throughout the range, but we never visited this beautiful place. Sycamores line the banks of the creek (they’re all green now) but I’m planning return visits in the summer and fall to see how the landscape changes. This point of view is from the bridge by the visitor’s center, if you know the area. The scene depicted is about 3:30 in the afternoon.
Last week I enjoyed taking a watercolor workshop from Dale Laitinen, which was excellent. I learned a lot not only about different watercolor techniques but about abstract design and composition. I’ll be posting some of those in the next few days. Right now I’m trying to compile a list of paintings to enter in various shows, and to prep for a number of sales.
More later
Sandstone Peak – near Malibu – Karen Winters Plein Air painting
“Sandstone Peak”
12 x 16 oil on canvas
Here’s the result of last Saturday’s paintout, with a very nice group of painters who specialize in the Santa Monica Mountains area. This location is at Circle X Ranch, high in the mountains above Malibu, actually a little closer to Ventura, just north of “County Line.” We arrived around 9 am – a problematic time for plein air painting as the face of the mountain was completely front lit. We’re talking full frontal eastern sunlight, which pretty much wiped out any chance of getting strong shadows. I knew this was going to be difficult, but we didn’t drive over an hour to paint some trees and bushes in the shade, so I figured I’d give it a go anyway.
When I got home from the paintout I discovered that I had to alter some of the colors to make the hillside recede, and to punch the foreground wildflowers to make them come forward. I could have done it on the spot but by the time I finished (around noon) the light had changed enough that there wasn’t much point in painting more. A reference photo allowed me to put on the finishing touches at home.
I was talking with pastellist Bruce Trentham while we took a break, and it turned out that we had both seen the same Ansel Adams PBS documentary which aired within the past week. One of Adams’ principles was to create a photograph not exactly as it WAS but how it made him feel. In other words he didn’t just photograph the scene he photographed his personal experience. That experience might have been a feeling of awe, rapture, serenity or other strong emotion. Sometimes he would use special filters to darken the sky unnaturally, the better to express what he was feeling. That, I believe, is one of the differences between fine art photography and just taking “a picture.” And it is the difference between merely copying a scene, either en plein air or in studio … and expressing a personal reaction. And that is why we paint more flowers than were really there (or that close), or we change colors, or soften and sharpen edges and so much more. Did I faithfully copy every nook and cranny of the rocks? Of course not! I got the general shape and enough crevices to say rocks, but more really isn’t necessary nor even advisable.
After the paintout we drove up and down the coast, stopping at several pocket beaches which were swarming with people. Little did we know that it was a hot day in the valleys and everyone had headed for the beach.
Here’s the work in progress shot. To answer a question I received a week ago (sorry, it’s been crazy busy) I use a Yarka easel and an easelmate which is like a wooden box with two “wings” that unfold to hold brushes, paper towels, etc. I have sheet of 12 x 16 glass (mounted to foamcore) which slides into the easelmate when I paint out. Under the painting in progress you can see a small sketchbook in which I did a composition before blocking in my color.
Wildflower Spring – Karen Winters Daily Painting
“Wildflower Spring” – 14 x 18 oil on canvas
This very new painting (painted last week) was inspired by my recent trip to California’s Anza Borrego State Park in North San Diego County. I’ve never been much of a desert person, although one of my warmest memories of a family trip was to see the California desert for the first time – around Joshua Tree, I believe. Perhaps it’s because most of the year it is fairly dry and barren. But when springtime follows a winter of abundant rainfall – stand back. This is the desert as I’ve never seen it before. Next year I’ll be looking for new places to paint and take photos with different kinds of flora.
If there is someone reading who lives in the North San Diego area and is familiar with the native plants, I’d like to know the name of the tree/shrub, which grow near Coyote Canyon at the upper part of the A-B preserve. Some have said it’s a smoke tree but it seems too full for that. It has some resemblance to a palo verde, but the trunks weren’t green. The foliage is soft and airy and drooping. It grows out in the middle of the desert, in what look like flash flood gullies. It likes sand as opposed to a craggy, rocky habitat.
This might be a good time to remind new readers of a few things about the images you see here:
I scan and process my photos on a Mac, which means that it may look slightly different on a PC, even though I have my monitor setup for PC preview, since that’s what more people use. I do my best to get a good color match, but if you’ve ever been in a computer store or the TV department of a large retailer, you know that there are rarely two screens that look alike. I’ve been told that in most cases the painting “in real life” looks even better than on the monitor.
Thing two: My name and blog address which appear in one of the corners of the photo are NOT on the painting.That is not how I sign my name. It’s a watermark that I apply digitally to my work so that if it ever gets separated from my site, or if I display it on Flickr (not here) that people know where to go to see more. I usually sign my name very small and subtly in either the lower left or right hand corner, whichever looks best.
Thing three: What you see in this post is a low res version so the blog page will load quickly. If you want to see a somewhat higher res version, click the image and it is likely you’ll be able to see more brushstrokes and detail.
More paintings coming soon … I have a lot on the easel(s) and I’m doing final tweaking for all the shows coming up this month and next, among them the Art Matters show and sale at the Huntington Library and Gardens in San Marino. More details as the dates approach. Mark your calendar for the weekend of May 2-3-4.
Big Sur Seascape Oil Painting – California Coast – Karen Winters Daily Painting
“California Coast” (near Big Sur) 16 x 20 oil on canvas
Click to enlarge to higher resolution image
When we were first married, young and footloose, my husband and I loved to travel up and down California on photo safaris. One of our favorite places was the coastline. So it’s not surprising that it would be a favorite subject mine for painting, also.
A few days ago we spent hours on beaches in Orange County, just watching the surf and studying how the color changes with the passage of time. The results of those studies will be seen here soon.
Wildflower Wonderland – Karen Winters Daily Painting
“Wildflower Wonderland” 12 x 16 oil
This year promises to have an extraordinary crop of wildflowers due to the heavy rains we enjoyed for part of the winter. The desert bloom is under way and will continue for several more weeks.
Chevy Chase Canyon View – Glendale – Calif – Karen Winters Daily Painting
“Canyon Dreams (view from Olympic Road)” – 12 x 16 oil on canvas
This is another in my series of paintings I’ll be taking to the Chevy Chase Country club for the Artists of the Canyon show beginning this Friday, March 14.
Until I started working on this project, there were areas within 6-7 miles of our house that I had never explored, and this is one of them. It’s a view from a trail/fire road that winds up a hillside off of Chevy Chase Drive. When the clouds clear and the sun comes out, it’s a wonderful sight. With the tile roofs, cypress trees and houses in pastel colors, I can imagine it’s somewhere in a Mediterranean setting. But it’s actually right here, just a short drive away.
