University of Redlands Original Plein Air Oil Painting of Larsen Hall by Karen Winters – November 2007 Centennial
“Larsen Hall” – 9 x 12 oil on canvas on board
University of Redlands original plein air oil painting
Thanksgiving has come and gone and we are thankful for the blessings of home, family and freedom from want. I am decidedly NOT thankful for the nasty cold I came down with during the day, which has absolutely knocked me for a loop today. I’m hoping that by tomorrow I’ll start to recover somewhat.
I have been working on a winter painting which may be our Christmas card this year, so in the meantime here’s a painting from October’s plein air paintout at University of Redlands which I had not posted earlier. It was done at about 9:30 am at Larsen Hall on Saturday, October 20, just a day before the winds and fires came to So. California.
This isn’t the front of Larsen Hall, which may be a more popular angle, but I chose this one around the side because it provided a good view of the dome as well as the beautiful violet mountains, deodar trees and the blooming sago palm – all images which are iconic of the campus.
Huntington Gardens Teahouse Plein Air – Karen Winters Daily Painting
Lions at the Gate – 8 x 10 oil on canvas on board
The truth in advertising part of this program compels me to confess that this was all painted from life at a paintout except for the sky – because I inadvertantly left the house without my tubes of paint – and there was insufficient cerulean and cobalt on my palette to do the deed without running out. So I used what skimpy blue I had to fill the area with the right color thinned with mineral spirits, but the thicker paint had to be applied after I got back home. There. I feel so much better.
Frankly, I might repaint that tree that has already shed its leaves, but I sort of liked the fact that it represented fall at the gardens. So I’ll have to think on that for awhile. The story of this painting is mainly about light – how it falls on the facade of the teahouse and the lion(s) that guard its entrance. The other lion is obscured by the front one so I left it out.
OK, and here’s some art news.
On Sunday I took the below painting to the San Gabriel Fine Arts Association meeting – which I’ve missed attending due to being at Descanso and other commitments, and I was thrilled to get first prize among the paintings displayed for competition, and to be chosen as artist of the month. The painting will go into the SGFAA gallery on Wednesday for a month and will compete in December for artist of the year.
And this painting got an award at the Verdugo Hills Art Association fall show. All in all, a good month!
University of Redlands Plein Air Painting – Admin Bldg and Rose Garden
Redlands Roses – 9 x 12 oil on canvas panel – Available
Here’s another painting from the Redlands paintout in Riverside, part of the centennial celebration, a view of the Admin building featuring the sculpture “American Deposition” and the Chancellor’s Rose Garden. This was painted on October 20, between 1 and 2 o clock when the sun was quite high in the sky.
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)
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.
Blue skies – plein air study
“Blue Skies” – 9 x 12 oil on board
On Friday I arrived in the afternoon at the gallery and didn’t have time to do a whole small painting. So instead I decided to take my easel outside and do some more studies of clouds – this time in oil instead of watercolor. I think a lot can be learned just observing the forms of nature and the effect of light upon them. Needless to say the clouds did not hold still for this study, so I would simply look for a cloud that had a similar form and coloration as I painted this cluster of thunderheads and scattered puffy clouds. Are these cumulonimbus (any weather experts out there?) They look like cumulus on the top but they were definitely laden with rain and dark gray on the underside in places. There were smaler wispy clouds floating among them.
Actually, the colors are a lot more subtle than this photo shows. The painting is soaking wet so I can’t put it on the scanner. There are delicate blues and grays throughout the puffy areas, but jpeg compression just doesn’t reveal it.
September Clouds
“September Clouds” – 11 x 15 watercolor on paper – plein air
I couldn’t imagine a more picture perfect day than the one I had today. Although there was the suggestion of a weather front on the way, the cumulus clouds merely circled our little valley, putting on one of the grandest display of cloudage that I’d ever seen. So I set up my easel outside of our gallery and devoted the day to cloud studies. The colors and patterns changed literally by the moment and sometimes I’d start painting one cloud and finish with details from another. Overall, it was an excellent opportunity to explore the many shapes and hues that clouds provide in a landscape. Creating soft edges and hard edges, painting wet in wet, charging pigment into semi-wet paint, doing dry brush, utilizing oozles and glazing, lifting pigment and creating texture with sponges, clouds give you the opportunity to try it all. These clouds were painted around noontime.
Also, one of the real joys of being at the Descanso Gallery is meeting all of the nice people who come by to chat about art and the gardens. I can’t think of anything I’d rather do on a crisp pre-fall day.
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Cottage – Central Coast California Watercolor painting by Karen Winters
Thanks to EBSQ for picking my painting, “Santa Barbara Cottage” for Art of the Day this past Saturday
This 11 x 15″ painting, when matted, will fit perfectly into a 16 x 20 frame.
Pasadena City Hall
“A Bright New Day” – (Pasadena City Hall) 9 x 12 oil – SOLD
A week ago Sunday the members of the California Art Club assembled at Pasadena’s City Hall for a plein air paint out to celebrate the rejuvenation and retrofitting of this revered local landmark. I don’t usually paint architectural subjects, but I enjoy challenges and this one was a good one. Compounding the challenge was the changing light, which is always a factor in plein air work. During the hours that I worked on this – from 1 -5 pm or so, the facade became more radiant and glowing, which prompted opportunities to add impressionistic color.
A week later, after the painting was dry, we returned to the same venue for a show and sale. The City Hall painting went home with a collector, as did this painting of Eaton Canyon, completed on a paintout earlier the same week.
SOLD
To see more Pasadena paintings that are still for sale, go to My Gallery Site.
