California Sunset Landscape Impressionist Painting – Karen Winters
California Sunset
5 x 7 inch oil on panel
In the wide open heartland of California’s Central Valley, the skies are big and the land is rich and bountiful. This plein aire style impressionistic landscape painting captures the glory of the waning day. I can’t pinpoint the exact location, but the surrounding names are picturesque, Buttonwillow, Lost Hill, Tranquility.
Just for fun, here’s a closeup of one part of the painting, showing the brushstrokes and delicate color:
Arroyo Trail – California Impressionist Oil Painting by Karen Winters
Arroyo Trail
11 x 14 oil
See more Pasadena paintings here
The Arroyo Seco continues to be one of my favorite subjects for landscapes. In the distance are the San Rafael Hills, part of the communities of La Canada Flintridge and Pasadena.
San Gabriel Summer – California Impressionist plein air style Oil painting
San Gabriel Summer
5 x 7 oil on panel
SOLD
This quick impression of Hahmongna park captures the feeling of the San Gabriel mountains when summer thunderheads bring rain to the high desert. The weather has been hot and humid, and the thunderheads are the evidence. The heat is keeping people away from Descanso Gardens, much to our disappointment. But the weather is supposed to improve, and the weekend will be in the mid 80s … a big drop from the close to 100 degrees we’ve been experiencing.
California Eucalyptus – Impressionist Oil Painting by Karen Winters – to be shown at Descanso Gardens
Big Eucalyptus
18 x 24 in. oil on canvas
SOLD to a collector in Pasadena
See more eucalyptus paintings here
If you are interested in eucalyptus paintings
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Well, tomorrow is the big day … the hanging and opening of our Descanso Gardens group show … and this is one of the big paintings I’m taking. It’s a portrait of one of my favorite California trees, the eucalyptus. The moment I saw this beauty I was compelled to paint it in all its backlit glory.
The show runs from August 22 to September 18 and the gallery is open from 10 to 3:30 but might close some days at 3. On the days I’m gallery-sitting I will probably bring something with me to paint as I did last year.
Our reception will be August 31, Sunday of Labor Day Weekend, from 1-4.
If you live in Southern California, I hope you’ll have a chance to drop by. I won’t be there every day, so send me a note if you’re planning a visit so I don’t miss you.
Rosarium Sunset
“Rosarium Sunset” 8 x 10 oil on canvasboard
On the heels of yesterday’s plein air outing at the arroyo, we went to Descanso Gardens at sunset today for some more painting and photographing. Descanso is open Thursday nights for the months of July and August. I wait all year for this opportunity to see the beautiful gardens at “golden hour” – the loveliest time (other than dawn.)
This represents one of the paths lined with rose bushes. Roughing in the painting took about an hour, from 615 t0 715, and I added finishing touches (such as the sky) after I got home. At that time of day the light was changing so rapidly there was not much point in painting after an hour had elapsed. I finished it off at home, refinining edges, adjusting things. The above painting represents the colors as they really are under room light conditions. The photographs below are more bluish, representing shady daylight conditions.
I promised some people that the very next time I went out painting with my lightweight easel that I would take pictures of the shelf in closeup, so here they are. I made a cardboard mock-up to work out the dimensions, then gave it to my husband who cut it out of 1/4″ masonite. There are no supports underneath the shelf other than two little L brackets to reinforce the holes. It sits on the easel by a friction-fit.
