California Oil Painting – Sycamore Meadow – Karen Winters
Sycamore Meadow
(Placerita Canyon Nature Center)
9 x 12 oil on canvas on board
The brilliant colors of fall give way to the softer colors of winter. In the last transitional days, some color remains on the trees, but the landscape takes on soft and refined hues.
Today the rainstorms are subsiding, and I’m optimistic that the next few days will show snow-decked mountains. I can hardly wait to see what the storm has left. Every season brings its unique gifts. As a California painter it’s always a thrill to see the seasonal changes of this beautiful and varied state.
Descanso Rose Garden Pathway
Descanso Rose Garden Pathway
8 x 10 oil on canvas on board
Available for sale.
This painting has evolved through the years. It started as an oil sketch a few years ago, but I put it away, dissatisfied. Today, with a few miles under my brush, I took it out again and revisited the subject. I’ve noticed differences in how I paint certain subjects. I’m more aware of color in shadows, and I tend to paint masses of leaves and flowers rather than just individual blossoms. I’m more likely to change the scene from “what is” to “what could be.” And I am more inclined to simplify and not to put in every bench and bud if it doesn’t add to the composition. The painting is wet so I had to filter it a little bit to get rid of all the distracting specks from the indoor light. When it’s dry I’ll either scan it or take it outside on a non-rainy day and shoot it in light shade or indirect north light. Which is to say, it’s a bit crisper than this.
If you’re interested in this painting, please write. My email is at the top left of this blog.
Huntington Beach California Seascape Painting
SOLD
Stormy Day at Huntington Beach
8 x 10 oil on panel
For price and more info about this painting, please write.
When stormy weather churns up the ocean, the results can be dramatic, and the sunsets are glorious. This is a view of Huntington Beach, with Catalina, cloud-shrouded, on the horizon.
And here’s how it might look in a nice plein air frame:
Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Timothy Clark paint a demonstration watercolor for a local art club. Since Timothy doesn’t demo publicly, only for his own workshops, this was a rare treat. What made the evening even more special was when one of my watercolor portraits got the blue ribbon for Artist of the Month, which puts me in the running for artist of the year. The perfect ending to a perfect day, even if it was dark and rainy.
California Plein Air Landscape – California Mission Garden at Descanso Gardens
California Mission Garden at Descanso Gardens
11 x 14
oil on canvas, plein air painting
Interested in this painting? Please write!
The good news: it was a picture perfect day in Southern California. Perfect, in fact, for April. The bad news: this is February 1, and no rain in sight. We desperately need rain, both for the snowpack on the Sierras and to nourish our local flora as well. But I tried to make the best of a bad situation by going out to paint at Descanso Gardens today in the Rosarium. The good news: it wasn’t too busy because everyone was home getting ready for SuperBowl parties. The bad news: there weren’t any roses to paint, either (duh) because they had all been pruned back in anticipation of a fabulous spring bloom. So we looked around to find something as sparkly and fetching as newly opened roses and I came upon the Mission Garden fountain, glistening in the afternoon sun.
I got set up around 1:30 and by 3:30 the light had changed so completely that I packed it in. In the meantime, I enjoyed painting and sharing my love of plein air painting with others.
I thought I was painting, but it turned out I was drawing … a crowd. Of course, I love talking to people about painting so I didn’t mind, and it was good practice for the demo I’ll be doing in May for a local art club. I expect they’ll want me to talk while painting and I don’t want to disappoint them!
For those of you who like to know what I’m using … I have a small 7.5 lb. Yarka easel which sets up very quickly. I should have had an umbrella but didn’t. I should have been wearing a black apron but wasn’t. I have an easel pal that sits on the easel and holds my palette in the middle, while the wings open up and hold OMS, brushes, spare paper towels and whatnot.
California Desert Landscape – Owens Valley Oil Painting
Owens Valley Morning
12 x 16 inches
oil on canvas
The eastern Sierra Nevada is a place of many different textures, moods and biomes, depending where you look. Just a short distance from some of the cottonwood groves I’ve painted is this desert like area with sagebrush and other desert wildflowers. Being an Angeleno, I have to confess that the Owens Valley was not a desert before Mulholland secured (grabbed) the water rights for Los Angeles. And it is true that the DWP is restoring water to the area, which is helping to bring back some of the native flora and fauna.
If you look carefully in the background of this painting, off to the right, you’ll see some brushy trees. That’s where the Owens River is flowing in this location. The range in the background is the White Mountians.
Sierra Nevada California Landscape Painting – Sierra Willows
Sierra Willows
14 x 18 oil on canvas
SOLD
More Sierra Nevada paintings here
Although fall had come to the Sierras, there were still late wildflowers blooming on the banks of the Owens river. Young willows were turning yellow, glittering with each passing breeze. What attracted me to this scene was the contrast of the delicacy of the golden willows contrasted with the solidity and cool violets of the towering Sierras. The area is near Big Pine, so I’m going to guess that’s Piper Peak in the background. My husband gave me a GPS for Christmas so on future trips I should be able to get more exact locations for those who want to know exactly what and where.
I used a lot of thick paint on this one, more than I usually do, applying it with a palette knife in places to get a more expressive energy into it. I found that this was a better way to suggest the wind blowing off the tops of the mountains and stirring the brush. There’s nothing sedate and calm about this one!
If you’re in Southern California, mark your calendars for February 21. I’ll be giving a short presentation about my art at Flintridge Bookstore and Coffeehouse at the intersection of Foothill Blvd. and Angeles Crest in La Canada. We’re going in alphabetical order so I’ll be appearing last at 8:30.
If you’re thinking of joining Facebook – jump in! It’s a lot of fun and you’ll reconnect with all your old friends there. Drop me a note if you’d like to add me as a friend, or follow my art activities.
California Landscape Oil Painting – Hansen Dam Willows
Hansen Dam Willows
14 x 18 oil on canvas
Like most seasons in Southern California, signs of the season don’t follow a predictable pattern. This, for example is what early winter looks like at Hansen Dam, about 15 minutes from our house. To most people it would look like fall. But no, in fall the trees are still green. Because of our short seasons, however, spring is likely to come early. Our ash tree lost its leaves after Christmas in one rain and windstorm. Within a few days green leaves were making their appearance. It’s weird. I know.
We lack a full season of snow, gray and restful quiet but we do gain extra months in which to paint growing things, like these fall beauties gracefully shedding their leaves with every passing breeze.
Today’s reception for the new members of Pasadena Society of Artists was wonderful. It was a terrific opportunity to meet new friends and catch up with old friends, talk some busienss and enjoy a lot of beautiful art. The show runs until January 29 … so if you’re in LA, I hope you’ll have a chance to stop by and see some of the things we’ve created. We were each asked to bring one painting to the show – a painting that was one of the three we presented when we were juried in. Because two of those paintings have sold (Castle Green Balcony and Under Autumn Skies) and the third is currently in a California Art Club show at the Blinn House – instead I took this one … Dana Point Headlands, 18x 24 oil.
Eaton Canyon Landscape Oil Painting – Eaton Canyon Springtime
Eaton Canyon Springtime
16 x 20 oil on canvas
SOLD to a collector from Pasadena
Interested in this painting? Please write.
This spring, be sure to mark your calendar to visit Eaton Canyon in Altadena when the wildflowers are in bloom. There has been enough rain that we should probably have a good show again.
Eaton Canyon is one of my favorite painting spots within an easy drive of my home. Sometimes if I see that there are interesting clouds in the sky I try to get over there to have a look or paint a little.
Yesterday I enjoyed visiting the LA Art Show, sponsored by FADA (Fine Art Dealers Association.) Several of the dealers featured paintings by Edgar Payne and William Wendt, both of whom are icons of California impressionism. If I had a spare 80 or 90 thousand dollars maybe I’d buy a small one. But since I don’t, I contented myself with gazing at them longingly, and making mental notes about the painting. At home, I’ve been reading Nature’s Temple, a catalog of Wendt’s work and Edgar Payne’s classic book on composition. It’s a good thing I enjoy being a perpetual student of art in all its manifestations. There is always something new to see and to learn from.
Ojai Valley Painting Study
Ojai Valley Study
5″ x 7″ oil on canvas panel
SOLD
Here’s another small color study, as I organize my thoughts about painting this view in a larger size.
When we visited the William Wendt exhibit recently, at the Laguna Art Museum, I observed that he frequently used diagonals in the foreground, either in the form of a road or overlapping hills, to lead the eye into the picture. This scene provided the opportunity to experiment with that lead-in style. I see several things I would do differently in a larger painting, but this small study served its purpose.
If you’re in LA, please join me and 19 other artists for the Pasadena Society of Artists New Members Show reception. The place: White’s Art and Framing … 2414 Honolulu Blvd., Montrose, CA 91020 (818) 957-4071. Time: 2-4 pm.
Eaton Canyon Oil Landscape Painting Study
Eaton Canyon Color
5 x 7
oil on canvas on board
These small color studies are fun to do when I don’t have time to dedicate to a larger painting. I guess that’s the essence of being a “daily painter” isn’t it? No one really expects us to finish a large painting every day, but, like Jello, there’s always room for a small study.
Although there’s not a lot of wildflower color this time of year, the remnants of autumn brush still glow against the greys and browns of winter. Buckwheat is one plant that adds a ruddy hue to any landscape. I like the white boulders that gleam in the sunlight – I think they add an interesting sculptural touch and provide contrast to the soft foliage.
This small study may be the basis for a larger work sometime soon. And speaking of larger paintings, I’ve been working on a larger Eaton Canyon oil painting, 16 x 20 inches, and I will be putting it here soon.
