Mountain Lake – Karen Winters Daily Painting
SOLD – “Spring Thaw at a Mountain Lake” 11 x 14 watercolor
Although it may seem that I’ve been missing in action, I’ve been busily working on many deadlines for different shows, and now some of that is behind me. Other deadlines loom, but they’re at a manageable distance. I took a little time tonight to work on this simple watercolor of a mountain scene, using a limited color palette of ultramarine blue, thalo blue, burnt sienna and sap green. I picked up an interesting tip from artist Al Setton, who I watched demonstrate a few nights ago. When he paints in watercolor or acrylic he keeps three rinse water containers. One for rinsing warm colors, one for cool and one clear water. When you’re painting in a hurry and don’t want to take the time to rinse twice (once in dirty water, once in clear) – if you consistently use the right rinse water before continuing with the same color, you won’t have much of a problem. It’s when you rinse in greenish water and then try to paint red that you can get in big trouble.
Hillside Dancers
“Hillside Dancers”
5 x 7 watercolor on paper
As spring approaches, the rain makes the colors all run together, wildly coursing down the hillside.
Thalo and gamboge, sap green and ochres … all rushing headlong in a vernal frenzy.
Eaton Canyon Trail – Pasadena – Karen Winters Plein Air Daily Painting
Eaton Canyon Trail
8 x 10 oil on canvasboard
A plein air adventure SOLD
Although I had a wonderful time enjoying the company of my art pal Wendee while painting out in nature, today, just about everything that could go wrong, did.
When we got to the location, I discovered that I had left my palette at home. I had brushes and paint but no palette. After rooting around in the trunk of the car I found an empty Fedex envelope that served the purpose.
When you absolutely, positively have to paint.
It was quite breezy out there. So breezy, in fact, that the panel kept flying off the easel and landing on the palette. Yuk. So I ended up holding the painting in one hand (like the palette I didn’t have) instead of on the easel. It worked out ok.
By the time I got this far, the light had changed too much to continue. So I took a picture and finished it at home, in studio. (As above.) Thus ends the tale of lemonade from lemons, and one woman’s determination to enjoy her paintout day, no matter what.
At a Lavender Farm – Karen Winters Daily Painting
“At a Lavender Farm”
5 x 7 mixed media (watercolor and acrylic)
We have some friends who live in northern California who own a lavender farm. The climate is perfect for growing this beautiful fragrant plant. The plants actually grow in more regular rows than this, but I sort of like the wild blowsy look.
Arroyo Pond – Arroyo Seco Painting – Karen Winters
Arroyo Pond – 12 x 16 oil on canvas
When the rains come, a part of the upper Arroyo Seco (in Hahmongna Park) can fill up with water, creating a seasonal pond. Here’s how it looked on one overcast day in early spring. I’m wondering what the current rainstorm will bring (this was from a few years ago.)
Conventional wisdom says that there should be a vertical element in a composition for balance when it is primarily horizontal, but in this case I think the purely horizontal format helps to reinforce the feeling of peace and tranquility. This view is from above Devils Gate – looking southward in the early morning in the direction of the Colorado Street Bridge. The hazy mist is typical when there’s a lot of moisture in the air.
Winter Reflections – Daily Painting
Winter Reflections – 10.8 x 7.8 inches – watercolor on paper
A subdued day – quiet colors under a grayed sky. Could a few drops of rain be ready to fall?
Early this morning, when there was a break in the storm, I went to Hahamongna Park to see how the Arroyo Seco river was flowing. There was certainly a volume of water, but nothing approaching dangerous. The stream was about a foot deep, I’d estimate, and about 15 feet wide at its widest. And there was snow in the mountains above. I would have liked to have painted but another storm started, so I just took photos instead.
Later today we spent some time at the Pasadena Museum of California art where a celebration is being planned to honor Milford Zornes, a celebrated watercolorist who is 100 years old – and still painting! Although Milford suffers from macular degeneration, he continues to produce remarkable works of art. We should all be so fortunate to have so many years to pursue our passion. They were hanging the Zornes show while we were there and what I saw of it looked spectacular. There were paintings from many private collections, from the 50s up to more recent times. His use of graduated washes is quite incredible and I look forward to seeing his works in more detail.
Arroyo Ramble – Pasadena Arroyo Seco
Arroyo Ramble 12 x 16 inches – oil
This is a part of the Arroyo Seco – a sandy river bottom that fills with water whenever there’s a big rain (like now.) One of these days soon I’m going to head over there and try to find some way to plein air paint while the waters are still flowing. I love it that we live in an area where wild nature is so close by (like 5 minutes away.) If you live in a rural area, that’s no big deal. But we live in a suburb of Los Angeles – so every bit of wilderness is treasured. Those are the San Gabriel mountains in the distance and they really are violet at certain times of the day. If the storm clears, maybe I’ll get over there tomorrow.
More later …
Tumbling Down – Karen Winters daily painting
“Tumbling Down” – 10 x 14 – mixed media on watercolor paper (wc and acrylic)
Last night, after I decided to stop working on an oil painting (for the moment), I took out a watercolor pad and thought I’d experiment with some of what I heard Jerry Stitt talking about – painting what things are “doing” rather than literally what they look like. This was the result.
I started with big bold washes with a wide hake (goat hair?) brush, and then started layering with other watercolor washes. I dropped thick paint into wet areas and let it run. I used the edge of a flat brush to sculpt some of the rocks. Dry brush was added here and there for foliage. Most of the white of the waterfall was the reserved white of the paper.
After the watercolor was dry, I went back in with acrylic (both diluted and full strength) to add more crevices to the rocks and to add to the spray effect over dark rocks. Knowing that I was going to include acrylic, I didn’t use any masking.
I only vaguely used a reference photo as a starting point and to understand the flow of the cascade. Most of the rocks were made up as the paint did its own thing and I needed to respond to it. That’s something else that I found fascinating from Stitt’s demo – he did his paintings completely out of his head based on his response to a very quick gestural drawing and what the paint was doing on the paper. Stitt has been painting for so many years that his knowledge of land forms is vast, so in a sense he’s relying on an internal reference library and a near photographic memory. But what he says is true. At a certain point in a particular painting you need to make the painting work and forget trying to match a scene “out there” in reality. I observed the same ability with watercolorist Barbara Nechis who invented landscapes as she painted … again building upon years of experience as a painter and observer of nature. This is yet another reason to keep a sketchbook and draw nature wherever you go. By this simple act you are committing nature to memory.
Spring Comes to the Arroyo – Karen Winters – Arroyo Seco daily painting
“Spring Comes to the Arroyo” – 12 x 16 oil on canvas
SOLD
Although this painting is sold, I’d be happy to paint something in a similar vein as a commissioned painting, in the size of your choice. Please write karen@karenwinters.com
Spring is first announced the the appearance of bright green grasses in the arroyo. These may emerge within weeks of the winter rain, covering the parched mountains and hillsides with brilliant chartreuse fuzz. Rosettes of mustard plants germinate and provide patches of darker green among the annual rye sprouts. Eventually the mustard grows tall , blossoms, and blankets acres of ground with yellow mist.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to see watercolorist Jerry Stitt demonstrate. He brings a great amount of energy and passion to his work, along with remarkable technique. One of the quotes that stayed with me was “I don’t paint what things ARE, I paint what they do.” He doesn’t want us to just see a boat, a lake, a hillside … he wants us to FEEL the sweep of the windblown tree, the flatness of the desert, the weight of the mountains. I learned a lot not only from what he painted by how he painted it as he put his whole self into his work with large gestures. Someone once said if he had a native American name it should be “Dances with Brushes” and that’s not far from the truth. He is also a trained ballroom dancer and that elegance and confidence comes through in the way he paints as well. A fascinating and talented painter. If you have a chance to see him demo (he lives in Sausalito) don’t miss it.
Peppertree Road – Karen Winters Daily Painting
Peppertree Road – watercolor sketch
Here’s another watercolor vignette from my sketchbook while I’m working on another large oil seascape. (To be posted as soon as it’s done.) My cold/flu bug is gone (at least enough) that I can contemplate painting in oils again, and so I am.
This little sketch was derived from color notes and photos I took on a trip to northern California. No matter what the season, peppertrees are evergreen here – always brightening the scene with their greens and yellows gleaming in the sun. I see them lining our highways and rural roads, gracefully nodding with every breeze. I love to paint them!
Here’s something I’d like you painters to think about: before you started painting did you look at trees and bushes, mountains and clouds in the same way that you do now? Do you find yourself drifting into a reverie when you see the sun coming out in a certain way and thinking … hmmm … is that sky blue cobalt or more toward cerulean? Do you paint with your eyes even when you’re away from your easel?
