Sierra Landscape Oil Painting – Bishop Windbreak, Owens Valley by Karen Winters

“Bishop Windbreak, Owens Valley”
California Sierra Landscape Oil Painting
16 x 20 oil on canvas

More Sierra Nevada paintings here

The first time that I painted this stand of trees, I thought they were aspens. The leaves were similar in shape, but the trunks are not the characteristic aspen white. The trunks looked more like cottonwoods – but the silhouette of the shape was more poplar like, and didn’t have the rounded tops.

A little net searching led me to discover that the the tree is actually a Lombardy poplar – and it is a variation of the black cottonwood. The whole botanical name is Populus nigra sp. Italia. So it’s both a black cottonwood and a poplar – and I think now my curiosity is satisfied. Whatever they are, these stately trees form excellent windbreaks along pastures near Bishop.

Comments

  1. padmaja
    December 15, 2010

    Feels as if I am standing in the shade and enjoying the warmth of the sun.. lovely composition, rendered beautifully!

  2. Karen
    December 15, 2010

    Thank you, Padmaja

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