Peaceful Pasture – Equestrian Miniature California Landscape Painting
Peaceful Pasture
(Central California)
6 x 6 inches, oil painting on canvas
SOLD
Last weekend we spent some time up in San Luis Obispo for the opening of the California Art Club’s “Gems of the Central Coast” show at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art. We had a great time seeing old friends and making some new ones, too. Once you get out of Los Angeles you really begin to appreciate the rural beauty of the state and the quiet moods of hills, pastures, marshes and mountains. Driving up the 101 we saw many ranches with scenes just like this.
See more of my California Central Coast paintings here
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La Canada La Crescenta View – Cherry Canyon Trail California Landscape painting
“Trail through the Foothills”
9 x 12 oil painting
See more La Canada area paintings here
The sunlight floods the Crescenta Canada Valley in the early morning. Oak trees and other chapparal scrub frame a view of tranquility. Down below, people are gearing up to get to work. Up here, it is a reminder of how the valley used to look before it was developed, back when the early California impressionists painted. it. Remnants of buckwheat provide a warm contrast to the cool blue shadows.
Interested in this painting?
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White Cactus Flower Painting – Botanical Southwestern Oil Painting of Cereus cactus by Karen Winters
Come Hither
White Cactus Flowers on a Cereus Peruvianus cactus
Oil painting 16 x 20
This wonderful cactus plant was at least ten feet tall, and covered in flowers so large and radiant that it took my breath away. The blossoms were as wide across as my hand, easily.
Those tireless workers, bees, were swarming all over them, harvesting pollen. However I chose not to paint those busy folk on this occasion. I love bees but not everyone feels the same way and I wouldn’t want their presence to prevent the painting from finding a new home. Maybe if I paint the subject again – I took many photos of this proud beauty.
White flowers are never truly white because they pick up color from everything around them – the blue violet sky light in shadow, the warm light of the sun, and so on. The value range of white varies greatly, too. Painting this was like trying to solve a large jigsaw puzzle. A bit frustrating at times, but a lot of fun.
Western Sierra Wildflower Landscape Painting – Earth Rainbow by Karen Winters
“Earth Rainbow”
(Western Sierra Wildflower Oil Painting)
9 x 12 inches
SOLD
See more of my California wildflower paintings here
When morning light touches the wildflower strewn meadows of the Western foothills of the Sierra, the poppies and lupines seem to light up from within – the blue violets and golden yellows competing for the sun’s attention. In the distance the valley oaks are putting on their spring foliage. The leaves emerge as a sort of pinkish beige, then eventually green up as the weeks go on. This season of color is all too short, but glorious while it lasts. We’re hoping that all the rainfall will bring another good year to this special part of California.
Wedding Painting – Canadian wedding oil painting in Canmore by Karen Winters
Canadian Wedding
18 x 24 oil on canvas
A custom commissioned painting
See a selection of my other wedding paintings here
This was perhaps one of the most complex wedding paintings I’ve done. Rather than painting live on location as I usually do, I was approached by a charming bride who asked if I could paint a wedding that had happened a year ago. They had a few dozen photographs to work from. There were a few challenges that we identified, but none that I thought were insurmountable, so I happily accepted the assignment.
1) The wedding took place in Canada under gray skies that looked as though they threatened rain. The pictures of the wedding party had a distinctly somber overcast look. But the couple commissioning the painting wanted to see the Canadian Rockies in their sunlit glory which meant painting the piece with an imagined color palette, rather than from the literal reference photos.
2) There were a variety of candid snapshots of people at the event, but they were all shot from different angles – sometimes just from the knees up – and relatively close up, not from a distance as they’d appear in a landscape.
3. The couple wished for an idealized view of the wedding without the distraction of chairs used during the ceremony so I had to create a virtual scene, in perspective, as it might have been, distributing the a representative sample of attendees through a 3d space and including some special features like picnic tables used for the party, a table featuring a time capsule, and so on.
One of the other problems I needed to solve was how to focus attention on the wedding party without making them large, in the foreground, and having to paint tight facial likenesses (which the couple did not want.) I used a slash of light through the middle ground to illuminate the bridal couple, while keeping other wedding-goers more in shadow.
I designed the painting in Photoshop and got the bride’s approval through all the design steps. Then came the fun part – painting it. I shipped the painting to the family last week and received a lovely and enthusiastic note of approval from them upon seeing it in person for the first time.
A wedding painting (even many years after the event) is a unique piece of art certain to become a treasured family heirloom, passed down through generations. And it makes a great wedding gift for “the couple that already has everything.” For more information on how to commission a painting or have me as a live event painter at your wedding
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Clivia Botanical Painting Kaffir Lily – Descanso Gardens Oil Painting by Karen Winters
“Clivia – Kaffir Lily”
10 x 8″ oil painting on hardboard
Botanical painting – Descanso Gardens
See more of my Descanso Gardens paintings here
Clivias, also known as bush lily, glow with bright orange colors through thickets of dark green strapping foliage. These secondary colors (orange and purple) make a nice contrast to each other. Painting this was like working a jigsaw puzzle. Every flower has dimension. The petals turn with the light, and the strappy foliage intersects the blooms in interesting patterns.
I don’t do a great number of botanical studies – especially not realistic ones – but I’m thinking of doing more this year as I redevelop my garden which will provide material for compositions. In the meantime there is always Descanso gardens, walking distance from my house, where I’ll have a solo show in the Heritage Gallery in the Boddy House mansion this November and December.
(There’s a little bit of glare at the top of the painting due to the wetness of the paint and the light source. Pretend you don’t see it.
Sierra Oil Painting – Sierra Daybreak – Owens Valley. California landscape painting by Karen Winters
Sierra Daybreak
6 x 12 inches
SOLD
Oil on canvas laid on panel
Light peeks over the rim of the White Mountains to the east of Owens Valley, at the base of the Sierras. If you turned and looked westward, you would see Mt. Tom, almost touched by alpenglow. It was cold and clear that November morning. Thankfully I had a hot thermos of coffee with me. It was autumn, and the dry grasses and wildflowers were ruddy looking at sunrise. A perfect complement to the cool blueviolet mountains.
More Sierra Nevada paintings here
Interested in this painting?
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Eaton Canyon painting – California landscape oil painting by Karen Winters
“The Canyon Calls”
(Eaton Canyon, Pasadena/Altadena area)
9 x 12 inches oil painting on canvas
SOLD
See more Pasadena area paintings here
Nourished by the waters gushing out of the San Gabriel Mountains, Eaton Canyon explodes into delirious bloom – the wild mustard in shades of yellow and purple duking it out with penstemon and purple nightshade. With each bend of the trail – through the nature center area or up in the wilder parts, new vistas are revealed. Watch out for rattlesnakes and poison oak, though. This is wild country – and only partly tamed by trailbuilders.
California poppy wildflower landscape oil painting – Golden Hills of Springtime – by Karen Winters
“Golden Hills of Springtime”
6 x 8 oil painting study
on linen panel
See more of my California wildflower paintings here
The foothills of the Sierra, when the weather is right, are draped in magical hues of gold, green, violet, white and orange. Amazingly, all at once. This living tapestry extends throughout the range, creating an almost mystical impression. Upon closer examination we see that California poppies grow in drifts next to white “popcorn” flowers. Fiddleheads – small yellow flowers – cover entire meadows – not to be confused with the fiddlehead appearance of opening ferns. Blue lupine provides a welcome complement. In this study I was making some changes to the actual appearance of the landforms, and experimenting with color harmony. With one small exception (a bit of ultramarine blue in the sky) this was painted with three primaries and white.
Fields of Peace – Los Osos Valley Road, San Luis Obispo County California Landscape Painting by Karen Winters
“Fields of Peace”
11 x 14 inches oil painting on canvas
Central Coast California, near Los Osos
(San Luis Obispo County)
In late spring, the ranch land near San Luis Obispo starts to turn from green to a dusky brown. Here and there the dried remains of earlier grasses take on hues of violet and umber. Coastal scrub plants provide a stark contrast with their fresh green foliage. Eucalyptus, of course, stay green year round – the ever-constant providers of shade and windbreaks. As the marine layer moves in from the sea to the west, the clouds catch the light of the lowering sun and turn shades of peach and apricot.
