Yellow Leaves, 12x12 pastel

Working from a photo I took last week in Yosemite National Park I found myself struck by the light.  It really was amazing to see the color, light and beauty this treasure holds.
For "Yellow Leaves" I laid down an under painting of direct color.  I use this method to work quickly,  Laying color down first, I stick to my values.  It is a good way for me to design a loose pattern of shapes and to cover the surface.  Once that is done I go to pastel.  I follow the under painting and make any alterations needed.  Pastel is wonderful for this, as it is opaque and covers well.  I leave areas of under painting coming through which gives the surface dimension.  

Reaching

One of my favorite trees lives in Irvine Park.  This is a 14x18 pastel that I did trying to capture it on a two dimension  surface.   I love the way it reaches of the sky and that it is a wonderful tree to climb.

COUNTING FENCE POST II

12x18, pastel, framed and museum glass

Here is another pastel I did from a smaller oil I painted a few weeks ago.  

COUNTING FENCE POSTS

6x9, oil, $90.00

This fence post lined trail is in Peter's Canyon, not too far from home.  A good place to get out and hike and be home just a hour or two later.  There are lots of wonderful views to paint and photograph.  It never fails to surprise me how different things can look throughout the year.  This is my favorite tree.  I have painted this tree many times and love how it changes.

FRESH AIR

24x26, oil, sold

Got out and did some hiking over the holidays and it was great to feel the cold fresh air against my skin.  I take lots of photos when I am hiking around in our local mountains and parks.  I am always amazed how the landscape changes throughout the year.  The terrain is very dull, dry and barren right now so it is fun as a painter to change things up.  Draw upon memory or just a change of harmony on my palette can excite a subject.  I had lots of fun with the color on this one.  I really built up layers of color to get to the final.  I love seeing the layers pop through to the surface and show off.  Lots of color.

TREE LOVER

6x9, oil, $90.00

Revisiting old paintings is lots of fun.  I drove by this tree today in Peters Canyon and was reminded just how much I loved painting it in all seasons.  I went home and pulled up some photos and went to work.  I choose a photo from mid summer (thinking warm) from a few years ago.  I am in the process of figuring out which landscape 6x9 will be good to paint in a larger format of 24x36, I am not fussing as much and just getting it down.

I am also feeling a bit more confident with the process of developing ideas.  Gee wiz I love painting.

SUNDAY DRIVE

6X9, oil, $90.00

Couple of weeks ago my hubby and I went out to take photos in O'Neil Park for a potencial series of studies for a larger painting.  The road in was just beautiful and lined with old oak trees.  I was shooting with a slow shutter speed trying to catch the light.  They all were pretty blurry, but showed the light,  which was all that I wanted.  Who needs detail...ha.

BREATH OF FRESH AIR

6x9, oil on gesso panel, $90.00

Returned to an old favorite spot to work on landscape.  There are many aspects of landscape that I love.  Mainly getting out and breathing in.  

"A WALK IN THE CANYON"

6x6, oil on raymar canvas, $75.00

Out for a hike on Sunday morning.  There was a beautiful break in the rain.  The trails were muddy in spots, but vistas were worth the messy boots.

"JUST ABOVE CIVILIZATION"

16x8 oil on canvas panel $185.00+$15.00 S/H

Not very far from where I like is a wonderful park called Peter's Canyon.  It is a hiking park and the last stretch in an ever growing housing area that connect the City of Orange to the City of Irvine.  The wonderful thing about being in the canyon is civilization seems to disappear.  Then as you reach a pinnacle point and have a clear view, there it is.  The world and all the people and things I walked away from for just a moment in time.  I am grateful for the hour or two I wander on my hikes in the canyon.  It is peaceful and refreshing.  I love the serenity.

This painting was lots of fun.  I loved the paint application and found myself using a palette knife and just feeling free as I do when I am there in the canyon.

Fleet Street 20x10 oil

Fleet Street is the view we have from our front yard north.  This Sycamore tree has always caught my eye.  I have watched it through season after season.  It is among our largest trees on the block and I love it.  There is a pine tree to the left of it about half the size that looks as if it is growing out of the Sycamore.

This is another in my series.  Again I am dealing with greens.  The light changed a lot in the time I stood out there and I found it hard to choose the time.  Working larger I have to work fast and be very aware of the lights and darks that originally drew me to the scene.  I found it easy to get lost in a section of foliage while the light changed in the shadows.  I wish it had a little more punch.  That might be color in the shadows, I don't know.  The tree is a busy textural area and covers a large part of the canvas.  I started to get busy in the background and changed my mind, thinking it would be too much.  Don't know, what do you think?

Hot Morning by the Creek 4x6 oil

I went back to Irvine Regional for another look at the creek.  It was much hotter than last week.  I managed to paint three small canvases.  I think this was the best and the first done.  I will post them in progression.  My husband came along again and walked and read and rested.  I love the sounds in the park.  It was a really great morning.

Taking a Walk in the Park 6x6 oil

This was the second painting on Sunday.  It was a quicky 6x6.  I played more with color and trying to get a figure suggested in this one.   

Tree in the Canyon 18x12 pastel on wallis SOLD

This is my favorite tree to paint. Late afternoon light is challenging because it is so luminous and fleeting. This was done from a photo which is good in someways (light stays still) and disappointing in other ways (the camera just does not pick up the beautiful color of late afternoon). I am taking a photoshop class where I hope I might be able to put some of the things that makes me want to paint a subject like this...back in the photo.

Still stumbling around with my pastels. Just trying to find that old comfort level and confidence to be a little more sure of what I am doing. I think I need to paint all the time. Not happy with values and color in the shadows. Needs the rich late afternoon contrasts. So, I just keep painting

Trees 8x10

Painted these when it was a bit too windy in the creek bed.  This is a whole new venture to figure out and show depth and light.  I could do this for a while.  My photo is not picking up the distant light and is looking quite gray.  One of these days I will understand how to fix these things.

Today is my twentieth painting for the month of January.  I am pleased to say I met my goal.  Now I need to evaluate and look at what I learned.

Morning in the Creek 14x11 oil

I made a few changes based on some suggestions I got. (above) 

I was out in Irvine park on the first real good day in a while.  It was clear and not windy and not too cold.  This is a north facing view.  In an attempt to push myself I decided to work bigger.   I was not able to finish on site and worked on it more at home.  I had trouble with values and then color and in working on it  at home I feel I lost that freshness of working fast on site.  I don't believe that it is finished and I really don't know what to do.  It just does not have the excitement that I felt getting out and painting.

Irvine View " 8 x 10" oil

I really call this Tom's trees, because we were copying a painting of Tom's in class 2 weeks ago. I think there is a value in copying a painting to get the feel of what it take to make that stroke or feel the thin or thick or just match a color. I have trouble when I think about the fact that I really am trying to find my own style. So I need to make sure I balance the importance of both in my life. I think the only answer is to paint , paint, paint!