Impressionist waterlilies – daily painting
Pink waterlilies – 9 x 12 inches – oil on canvas
I had such a good time painting the reflections on “Drifters in the Stream” that I decided to paint another “reflections” painting but this time with brighter subject matter. These bright waterlilies provided exciting subject matter to practice with.
Saturday night’s opening at the Pasadena Women’s City Club (Blinn House) was a wonderful event and I was so honored to be able to participate with a painting in the show. The show features 40+ paintings of streams, rivers and harbors and I was happy to see many of my painting friends there. We also had the distinct pleasure of meeting Lewis MacAdams, poet and co-founder of Friends of the LA River. His enthusiasm for stewardship of the river was contagious and we found ourselves captivated by his “word paintings” as well as his wealth of information about this beautiful resource. It’s just another beautiful place to paint in LA.
There aren’t any waterlilies in the LA River (that I’m aware of) but there are fish such as tilapia, catfish and carp and abundant crawfish which the herons and egrets adore. Steelhead salmon used to run in the LA river, although those days are past. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the river could be restored to the degree that it was possible again? To the untutored eye, the LA River seems to be completely encased in concrete — yet there are miles and miles of stretches where the river has a natural sandy bottom and where plant life abounds. Yes, I am a natural history geekette as well as a paint and botany fan. I could listen to stories of our local environment for hours and thankfully my dear husband feels the same way – we are both inveterate information junkies.
Haystack Rock – Daily Painting
5″ x 7″ oil on canvasboard
Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach, Oregon.
Painted in a plein air style from a reference provided at Wet Canvas.
Sunset Oaks – Karen Winters Daily Painting
“Sunset Oaks” 12 x 16 oil on canvas
SOLD
This studio painting, based upon plein air references is a companion piece to Evening Glory (sold) which can be seen in the sidebar to the left. Painting “oaky goodness” as my husband and I refer to it, is one of my favorite things to do. Our coast live oak trees are simply magnificent any time of year. The dried grasses glow in the sunset giving yet another reason why we’re called The Golden State.
This painting will most likely be included a week from tomorrow at the Montrose Artwalk from 9 – 4 on Honolulu Avenue in Montrose. Look for me near the Citibank bank building.
The Open Pomegranate – Karen Winters Daily Painting
The Open Pomegranate – 5 x 7 inches – oil on canvasboard
Yes, I know it is a little radical compared to yesterday’s more sedate persimmon and plumbago composition, but sometimes a girl’s just got to cut loose and do something different. I had purchased a few pomegranates to put in a still life arrangement and then I got the idea to break it open and see how I could convey the feeling of that juicy flesh and seeds scattering in all directions.
This was a great deal of fun to paint, as you can probably tell from the enthusiastic brush strokes. And I can’t really say what tomorrow will bring …
Persimmon and Plumbago – Karen Winters Daily Painting
Persimmon and Plumbago – 8 x 10 oil – Available
I was coming into the house from the driveway today and saw that our plumbago shrub was covered with blue-violet blooms. It immediately struck me that those colors would be a good compliment to the yellow-orange persimmon I painted last night, and which had survived the ordeal, no worse for wear.
There is something to be said for working in a series. I found the persimmon easier to paint today than last night
So I set up another still life in the same stage, this time a wider shot incorporating a bit of drapery. I don’t often draw folds, let alone paint them, so this was a good experiment for me, and I’m satisfied with the result.
I used the same colors as yesterday for the persimmon, plus UM blue and some alizarin crimson for the plumbago.
Persimmon Passion – Karen Winters Daily Painting
Persimmon Passion 5 x 7 oil
Painted from life and still soaking wet. That’s why you’ll see little shimmery dots in the photo of the room light bouncing off the paint. With Descanso and the Redlands show behind me, I’m busy again getting ready for the art walk in our neighboring town of Montrose.
Painting still lives is a very relaxing discipline. They don’t move and under room light I don’t even have to worry about the sun disappearing behind the clouds. I like to paint them alla prima, wet into wet, all in one sitting. Our son tells us that persimmons are very delicious but I never eat them, I just paint them until they start to look old and then, unfortunately, they’re too old to eat also. Maybe next time I should get some to paint and some to munch. Just for fun I took a picture of my setup. The painting looks huge but it’s only because I’m close. It’s only 5 x 7 really. I have it in a cardboard box to eliminate exterior light so that the “key” light, coming from the upper right, is the only one that is consistent.
This was painted primarily with cadmium orange, cadmium red, sap green, a little ultramarine blue and white.
University of Redlands Sunset – Daily Painting
“Sunset on the Quad” – (University of Redlands) 5 x 7 oil
SOLD
This is one of the paintings I did last weekend en plein air at University of Redlands, about halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs. It was painted in the last 20 minutes of light of the day, when the colors are most intense and represents a view of the Administration Building from the viewpoint of the quad. Only a handful of painters were left at this time, but the colors were worth waiting for.
Painting at that speed means giving up actual detail for suggestion of detail, which is different kind of challenge and one that I enjoy.
This is one of the pieces that will be in the U. Redlands show, along with two other plein air paintings and a big bunch of other regional and desert scenes, some of which have already been posted here.
Temple of Love – Huntington Gardens – plein air
“Temple of Love” – 8 x 10 – oil
SOLD – but I have other Huntington paintings.
Click this link to write me. See more of my paintings on my website
This little painting was painted plein air style at Huntington Gardens early one morning. The sun was climbing rapidly so I concentrated on painting the “temple of love” first, while the light bounced warmly inside the classical structure. Then, I worked on the foreground and background trees and finally the grass, which didn’t change appreciably. I don’t know the species of the large tree but it is not a weeping willow. I’d say it looks like it’s in the juniper family, and although I looked for a plant marker I didn’t find one. Maybe some horticultural expert who knows the Huntington plants can enlighten me? There is such a plant as a Tolleson’s weeping juniper, but it supposedly only grows to 30 feet and this one was much larger.
Anyway, back to the plein air part. I’ve been using a glass palette these past few weeks and although I’m a little concerned about its fragility in the field, I really like the ability to clean it quickly with a glass scraper and have a fresh area to mix in. I use a Masterson’s box to transport my palette and to keep it airtight between painting sessions, so the paint does stay fairly moist.
I think I have just outted myself as both a plant geek and a paint geek. Sad, isn’t it? (grin)
Call of the Desert – Pinyon Crest
“Call of the Desert” – 12 x 16 – oil on canvas
SOLD
This new painting – of an Inland Empire desert scene – will be one that I’ll display at the Redlands Centennial Plein Air show and sale this Saturday at the University of Redlands. It depicts a typical byway on the road to Idyllwild – up highway 74 – in a little community called Pinyon Crest. If you live in that area you know just the kind of terrain I’m talking about. Very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. The sale includes not only paintings of the University of Redlands and the city of Redlands but also scenes of the surrounding Inland Empire area – including San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.
Last Saturday’s paintout was a great deal of fun. I got three paintings done that day – two 8 x 10 sized ones of campus buildings, and one small 5 x 7 painting, done feverishly at sunset – showing a long view of the quad with students lounging on the grass. Surprisingly, it was not windy on Saturday and the weather was in the low 80s, quite mild. There’s another paintout tomorrow but I don’t think I’ll be going – too much wind on the freeways bouncing around big 18 wheelers.
A fall garden, plein air
Fall Garden – 9 x 12 – oil on board
A little plein air painting at Huntington Gardens – in a fall mood. In the foreground: mexican bush sage, backed up by red amaranthus. The green clump was another sage but I don’t know the name of the plant with the yellow foliage. I’ll try to ID it on my next trip. The day was gray and overcast but it made the colors “pop” in comparison.
Tonight I had the great delight of watching watercolorist Fealing Lin paint a demo. Last month I saw her paint a landscape – this month, at a different art group meeting, she did a fantastic loose portrait. Seeing her use of color and wet-into-wet techniques was inspiring and made me want to reach for my palette.
