Moonstone Beach Sunset Cambria Plein Air Oil Painting Seascape by Karen Winters
Moonstone Beach Sunset
6 x 8″ plein air study
oil on linen panel
April 2010
This past week I was up in Central California for a California Art Club paintout on San Luis Obispo Land Conservancy lands. The locations were beautiful, but we got rained out inland several days in a row. One day we headed for the coastline where the weather was very cold and windy but clear. At sunset I painted this small study.
How windy was it? Check out the front of my broad-brimmed hat, below. It doesn’t normally flip up in the air like that. It was also too windy to use my easel on a tripod so I held my EasyL easel on my lap. A furniture pad provided some padding and protection from the cold. Brrrrr. We finished off the evening with a dinner at a nearby Moonstone Beach restaurant, then headed back to our motel in SLO, to rest up for another day.
California Seascape Malibu Oil Painting – Radiant Shore
Radiant Shore
Malibu coastline
18 x 24
oil on canvas
I’ll be taking this new painting to a Malibu art show this Sunday at Headwaters corner at Topanga and Mulholland (11-5 pm) for the spring show of the Allied Artists. The craggy rocks of the shoreline glisten in the light of the setting sun as the incoming tide surges through the nooks and crannies. I love how the colors intensify as the sun nears the horizon. Once again nature presents us with the perfect complementary color scheme of warms against cools, red-yellow-orange against blues and violets.
These days I’m trying to balance my time between getting handout materials ready for my solo exhibition at the Bowers Museum, keeping up with commissions and sales (shipped three yesterday) and thinking ahead about the California Art Club paint-out in San Luis Obispo for the week of April 17. Life (and art) are good, and all-absorbing!
California Poppies – Pasadena’s Arlington Garden Landscape Oil Painting
In a Poppy Garden
8 x 6″ plein air painting
oil on panel
SOLD
Late yesterday afternoon, after painting at Descanso, we went for a walk in Pasadena and I took a pre-sunset hour or so to paint this small study of a beautiful Mediterranean garden in Pasadena on Arlington St, just off Orange Grove.
Along with poppies we saw blooming ceanothus, apricot mallows, climbing roses, penstemons, irises, bulbines and many other drought-tolerant Mediterranean and California plants. All inspiring as we convert one of our yards into a drought tolerant garden. While we were there we had the chance to meet Betty and Charles McKenney, the founders of this wonderful city refuge, and to learn about some of the plants and the history of the project. I’ve been a visitor to the garden many times in the past three years, but getting to meet the folks behind it was a special treat. The garden is continuing work in progress and it’s delightful to see its evolution.
Sierra Nevada Oil Painting – Sierra Blush – Bishop California Sunrise Oil Painting
Sierra Blush, (Autumn morning near Bishop, California)
12 x 24 inches
Oil on Canvas
(Commission – sold)
This is my latest Sierra Nevada painting, painted on commission for a lovely young woman who lives in Ohio and whose brother is a guide in the Sierra. It has been so much of a pleasure to get to know her through the painting process, knowing that the painting will be a part of her family for many years to come.
The location is near Bishop, California, in late October, after the first light snow of the season.We got up very early to observe this scene (like 5:30 am) and it was worth it. The alpenglow light on the snow was heavenly. I could hardly wait to paint it. I know that I will be painting scenes like this again, most likely in a larger size. I think the panorama format really works for this type of a landscape.
Although this painting is sold, if you’d be interested in owning a painting of the Sierra Nevada,
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Leo Carrillo Beach Oil Painting – Pelican Rock – Malibu seascape art
SOLD
Cormorant Rock, Malibu,
Leo Carrillo State Park Beach
5 x 7 oil painting
At Leo Carrillo Beach, I came across a rock that had a flock of cormorants roosting briefly before their next fishing mission. Their silhouettes against the fading sun intrigued me, and I thought they made a nice composition. A wedding was underway just the other side of a big rock structure, a beautiful sunset setting. I thought at first they were pelicans, but I was mistakden.
This limited palette painting was fun to do. The rocks take on different colors depending upon the lighting conditions and time of day, which presents a lot of creative possibilities.
California’s Brown Pelicans have been in the news recently as sick and dying birds have been found a distance from usual home. Their feathers are often discolored with some unknown substance. Whether is the result of red tide (algae bloom) or some other pollutant is unknown. A similar die-off happened around February of 2009. One supposition is that weather and oceanographic influences may disrupt the pelicans usual feeding patterns, causing them to starve and weaken. El Nino conditions may be a contributory factor. These birds were on home turf and looked well-feathered and plump. I love to watch them flying just over the waves, single file.
Malibu Surf Sunset Painting – California Seascape Oil Painting
Malibu Surf Sunset
6 x 8 oil
This little study of the surf at Malibu gives you some idea of the subtle range of colors that emerge on even a somewhat hazy day. The water can appear silvery and opalescent under the right conditions. And those conditions change from moment to moment. California impressionist and Laguna painter Frank Cuprien was especially adept at capturing those fleeting tones in his oil paintings. There’s a lot to be learned from studying the masters, first-hand. I’ve enjoyed seeing his works at both the Laguna Museum of Art as well as the Irvine Museum.
See more of my marine paintings here
For more information about this painting, please write.
Sierra Storm – Sierra Nevada Oil Painting – California Landscape Painter Karen Winters
Sierra Storm
12 x 16 inches
Oil on linen panel
SOLD
More Sierra Nevada paintings here
In the fall, storms begin to gather over the Sierra, offering dramatic lighting effects. This storm was breezing up and brought two days of downpour in its wake. We outran it and came back to paint another day. The sage and rabbit brush looked wonderful rimlit by the sun.
For more sierra paintings, click here
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California landscape oil painting – tonalist fine art – Karen Winters
Under the California Sun
9 x 12
oil on linen panel
SOLD
This new painting was influenced by some studying of tonalists such as George Inness, and my continued explorations using a more monochromatic color palette in some works. Yes, I still love my saturated colors, but there are different atmospheric effects and moods that can be achieved by changing things up. Eucalyptuses are entertaining to paint under any light or atmospheric conditions.
My husband and I attended the gala of the LA Art Show, presented by the Los Angeles Fine Art Dealers Association at the LA Convention Center. It was a thoroughly satisfying experience, and we enjoyed seeing new work by some of our favorite galleries, including George Stern Fine Art, The Redfern Gallery, William A Karges Fine Art, The Arcadia Gallery, Galerie Michael, Sullivan Goss, and Rehs Gallery
In spite of the pouring rain and my still recovering ankle, it was a night to remember!
Big Sur Oil Painting – California Garrapata Beach seascape
Garrapata Beach, Big Sur
16 x 20 oil on canvas
The state park on a beautiful clear day with just a little mist hovering over the distant headlands. A look so typical of the area. I’ll bet that this location has been the scene of many marriage proposals, it’s so beautiful.
Last weekend, I attended the artists’ reception for the Pasadena Society of Artists ACE Exhibition, and was delighted to learn that my painting of the LA County Fair, “Fun Zone,” had won an Award of Merit. This has been a really exciting week for me – first learning that I am a new Artist Member of the California Art Club, and now this honor from PSA. I can hardly wait to find out what surprises this new week will bring.
Karen Winters at the Pasadena Society of Artists ACE Awards
California Landscape Oil Painting – Temecula – Vineyard Afternoon
Vineyard Afternoon
(Falkner Winery, Temecula, California)
9 x 12
Plein air – oil on linen panel
SOLD
There’s something about the afternoon light in the Temecula and Fallbrook areas that just makes me melt when I see it. I love the soft peaches and gold tones that come around magic hour … and when it kisses the vines just so, it begs to be painted.
This is the second plein air painting I did on Day one of the Falkner Winery Invitational, courtesy of the Pasadena Art Gallery Association. I was an invitee of Segil Fine Art Source, and there were painters from Galerie Gabrie and Tirage as well. Some folks even came from as far away as Oregon for the event. We had a great time painting all day and enjoying fine vintages like “Luscious Lips” at our reception.
The weather couldn’t have been more cooperative – a morning fog burning away by 9 am, revealing beautiful blue skies and rolling hills of green and amber vines. By three o clock the haze moved back in, as you can see in this painting. I’m thinking this might make a good study for a larger painting as well.
More paintings to come ( I did three in total – two on day 1 and one on day 2. I called it quits early so I could spend some time visiting with friends old and new. )
