Chapparal Trail
Chapparal Trail
(Dunsmore Canyon, La Crescenta)
9 x 12 oil
We’re having some unseasonably hot weather right now. Today it was in the high 80s and tomorrow it’s likely to be 90. Last year, when I was doing the Sierra Madre Art Fair, it was 100 both days. Because I am showing so many paintings at Gale’s (which hung this morning) I opted not to do the SM Fair just this year. It seemed like I’d be burning the candle at both ends to have 30 paintings for Gale and another 20 for a fair booth. Now, seeing the weather (again) I’m glad I opted to pass. Next year I might do it again, though. Now I’m home in my studio, staying cool, and working on some other projects.
California plein air landscape painting – Wildflower Hills
SOLD
California Wildflower Hills
9 x 12 plein air painting
oil on linen panel
See more of my landscapes here
A few months ago, after keeping an eye on the wildflower reporting sites, we took a trip up into the foothills of the western Sierras. The online sources were right – they really were really spectacular this year. I started this painting on site, and have been waiting for the opportunity to touch it up in studio before posting here. Among the challenges at this location was a storm system that cast ever-changing shadows over the golden hills. One minute the foreground was in light and the background in darkness. Five minutes later it was the reverse. At the point of laying in my darks I decided to go with the cloud shapes on the distant hills and leave the foreground hill bright, and then to paint it that way no matter what nature was doing.
Next week, after my show is hung this Saturday at Gale’s Restaurant in Pasadena, I should be back to painting and posting regularly. There are just too many details to take care of right now.
Fallbrook Landscape Oil Painting by California Impressionist Karen Winters
Spring to Summer in Fallbrook
9 x 12 oil painting on canvas
A country ranch road in Fallbrook, California
SOLD
This painting is sold but I have others from the area. Please write me.
Here’s another little landscape inspired by my Fallbrook trip. There were several mornings when the marine layer had moved in and was cloaking the hillsides with a gauzy look. Around 8 o clock the mist would start to burn off. You can see where the grasses on one part of the field have already started to turn golden. Other foliage still maintains the fresh spring look.
I haven’t posted in a few days because it’s been very busy getting ready for my show at Gale’s Restaurant, celebrating Mothers’ Day and taking care of other family responsibilities.
Did you know that if you want to see all of my paintings in any one category – such as all Fallbrook paintings, or all mountain paintings that you can filter these posts by categories? Look for the pulldown menu in the left sidebar.
Karen Winters California Impressionism New Works Show at Gale’s Restaurant, Pasadena
If you’ve been following my blog, you know I’ve been preparing for this event for some time.
So, if you’re in the LA area and would like to see my work in person, I invite you to come to my show of California impressionist fine art.
Place: Gale’s Restaurant
Address: 452 S. FairOaks in Pasadena, California
Dates: Sat. May 16 – Friday, July 10
Reception: Sunday afternoon, May 31, 4-6 pm.
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Windbreak – California landscape oil painting – Karen Winters
Windbreak
10 x 12 oil study
SOLD
This little windbreak was interesting with its varied heights and shapes. It reminded me of a group of kids lined up for their school picture, or perhaps an a capella group getting ready to perform. I had a good time capturing the top light on the trees, which suggests the middle of the day. The short shadows communicate the time of day as well.
Studies are useful for many purposes – we learn about how to render certain types of plant life, how to capture the quality of light at a certain time of day, how to describe distant and near objects, even how the sky looks under different weather and lighting conditions.
California Oak Wildflower Landscape – Karen Winters
The Oak’s New Spring Gown
9 x 12 oil on canvas panel
SOLD
In the western foothills of the Sierra range, valley oaks begin to deck themselves in fresh green foliage … lacy layers of silken fluff. Out in the meadows they look like girls going to their first big dance. The late light of day puts the lady in a spotlight as admiring wildflowers look on.
The Meadow Wakes – California landscape painting – Karen Winters
“The meadow wakes”
(Sierra foothills, east of Visalia)
6 x 8 oil on canvas
SOLD
When the first strong rays of light hit a meadow filled with fiddlehead flowers, the mist was still rising from the nearby hills, providing an interesting contrast of saturated and desaturated colors. The statuesque valley oak was just starting to put out its new foliage, creating that lacy effect that is only characteristic of earliest spring. I wonder what it would be like to live on a farm like this, with so much beauty to see in every season.
Fallbrook Landscape Oil Painting – Morning Breeze – by Karen Winters
Morning Breeze (Fallbrook, California)
16 x 12″
oil on canvas
• SOLD
As the week progressed in Fallbrook, the weather cooled and large clouds would appear every morning. This painting, inspired by my visit there, depicts a view looking eastward across a small creek that helped irrigate the ranch where we were painting. Clouds are among my favorite subjects to paint and in this case they are the primary interest.
If this painting is dry, I might be bringing it to the Montrose Art Walk this Saturday on Honolulu Avenue in Montrose. I can’t promise, because it may not be dry enough. But on the other hand, at a plein air event, the patrons buy paintings at the end of a QuickDraw event, and they are soaking wet, painted just an hour before. So I might very well bring this one along.
Fallbrook Country Road – Plein Air Study
Fallbrook Country Road
Plein air oil sketch
9 x 12 oil on canvas laid on board
Eucs, palms, oaks, sycamores. I’d have a hard time deciding upon my favorite California tree.
This time, eucs are featured. and it turned out to be one of my favorite on-location oil sketches from Libby Tolley’s workshop. It was late top-light, about 3 in the afternoon, before the sun made its final descent. The hillside was starting to go into shadow, but the warm light was still touching the tops of the brushy shrubs here and there. The eucs are getting the kiss of the sun on their heads but shortly afterward became more sidelit. What attracted me to this scene was the warm glow of light striking the grass at the base of the eucs. I thought that it gave an interesting way to show the trunks that are usually hidden in shadow.
This is a transitional season painting. There still remains some spring grass, especially in the irrigated pasture, but the non-irrigated fields are turning the gold so characteristic of California in the summer and fall. The warm light of the day creates cool shadows – and I like the way the gold of the grass complements the shadowed blue-violet. The suggestion of fence posts adds a bit tot he composition, but I didn’t want to paint them so stiffly and regularly that they became a barrier. Just enough to let you know it’s a fenced pasture, no more.
If you’re in LA, this Saturday I’ll be showing paintings at the Montrose Artwalk, May 2. I’ll be near the bowling alley.
Lean on Me – Fan Palms – Plein Air Oil Landscape Painting
“Lean on Me”
9 x 12 oil on canvas panel
(Fan Palms in Fallbrook, CA)
This friendly palm twosome caught my attention on Wednesday morning at the Libby Tolley workshop. Our assignment was to find a composition that interested us and to paint it in two hours before the light changed. The week got progressively cooler, with atmospheric mornings and more brilliant sunsets. Capturing the quality of cool morning light was one of the many enjoyable challenges we rose to. This painting represents the moment where the morning fog is just starting to burn off, when the sun catches the edge of the palm fronds. Close to the ground the mist still hovers and swirls. But higher up, the clouds are breaking up to reveal a brilliant blue sky.
More palms in other workshop paintings to come …
What I love about workshops – going somewhere new to paint – meeting other artists and making new friends – getting immediate critiques and suggestions about one’s work “in the moment” – the fun of experimenting and trying new solutions to common painting problems – seeing how other people paint a similar scene – feeling tired but satisfied at the end of the day.
