Half dome revised

So I have taken my painting of Half Dome and have tried to "fix" some of the problems that I saw, mainly that Half Dome was not the main focus of the painting.
I started with a simple fix: cropping the distracting foreground out (not actually cutting the paper here, just electronically editing).

But then I took it a little further. To actually fix the foreground instead of just cropping it out, I darkened the foreground, and created some layers to draw your eye toward the cliffs. Since the color of the sky and Half Dome were so similar, I also decided to take the sky a little darker...ok, a lot darker, downright stormy. And what would you expect with a storm at Half Dome? Lightning, of course. Using a very fine brush to apply lumpy masking fluid is a challenge but I was able to get some fine lines to create the lightning.

At this point, I have not done anything to the cliffs (although the exposure of the photo made them look more yellow).

 Ok, it seemed like the lightning is a little too much, drawing focus away again, so let's take a little bit of it out but continue to darken the clouds a bit. Hmm, maybe too much?

At this point, I have over-worked my paper and will call it finished. Sometimes I just have to push my comfort zone and keep working a piece, but sometimes I have to know when a painting is finished. Either way, I have learned a few things in the process, so I think I will have to revisit this subject and paint Half Dome again soon.

Half Dome in Mist

So my third Yosemite inspired painting... Half Dome. This one is still a work in progress. I'm taking a step back to figure out where to go with this. My foreground trees are taking too much focus away from Half Dome, as it gets lost in the mist.

It's a nice painting at this point, but now I have to take some risks to bring the focus to Half Dome. Since I don't have a "revert to last saved" button, this painting will only be saved here as I attempt to problem solve.

Yosemite Falls, watercolor

Here is another Yosemite inspired painting. I am still working from some photos that I took during my visit there last month. Yosemite Falls is always one of the most impressive year round, but with its spring flow, it is even more so.

The cliffs surrounding the falls are quite impressive too, but next time, I think I would crop it down so the focus is more on just the falls and not keep so much foliage or cliffs in the painting. I decided to not use the masking fluid to keep the falls white as I did with my Bridalveil Falls watercolor, but was mindful of where I was painting. These falls are so massive and thick, it just didn't seem necessary.

Bridalveil Falls and Leaning Tower, watercolor

Yosemite has always been one of my favorite places, although I have never used it for inspiration in my paintings. Luckily Sacramento is just close enough to make it a spur of the moment day trip ( a very long day!) I had actually packed all of my gear for plein air painting, but once I got to the valley floor, afternoon thundershowers were threatening, so I decided to just take some pictures and not risk getting soaked. So here is the first of several Yosemite inspired paintings.
Bridalveil Falls was flowing very strong, as to be expected in the spring. You could only get so close before getting wet from the spray. The lone outcropping next to it is called Leaning Tower. (Even having been to Yosemite many times, I did not know this.)

I used masking fluid on the falls and the spray to keep it white but then went back in and added some shadows and a few trees in front of the spray after it had been removed. The falls are so majestic in person, I hope I have done them justice.

Black Hole of Calcutta Falls, watercolor

This is a piece I have been meaning to do for a while but it it has just sat in the shelves of my brain waiting to be dusted off. I originally posted my plein air pencil drawing of the Black Hole of Calcutta Falls  about 3 years ago. When I finally decided to recreate it in watercolor, I decided not to just work directly from the pencil drawing, although I did do the preliminary sketches from it, so there are some similar shapes. But to accurately capture the colors and feel of the falls, I needed to make a day trip up to these falls, just off the confluence of the north and middle forks of the American River. Since my last visit 3 years ago, they have built a foot bridge over the creek, but the charm of the falls was the same, other than a lot of other people on the day I went. It even had close to the same average flow of water as it did the last time. I took some reference photos of the falls as well as some other pics for future projects before heading home.

This painting is the first time I used my masking fluid, which seemed necessary to depict the water splashing over the black rocks. I was worried it would never come off since it seemed to become part of the paper as I painted over it, but after the paint dried, it rubbed right off using a clean finger. Then I went back in to lessen the stark white that had been left with some light washes.

Sonoma Valley Vineyard, watercolor

Sonoma Valley Vineyard, 11 x 17

This piece had been sitting as a pencil outline sketch for almost a year, and it called to me this weekend to be painted. There was an original reference photo that I had copied the outlined sketch from, but after a year, I had no idea where it was. I did my best to remember some of the details, but I also pulled up some other photos to help with color and more specific shapes. I feel that my grapevines turned out to look more like trees but other than that, I really like the way this turned out.

Painting mist with watercolor

After watching a free video tutorial by Jean Lurssen on how to paint mist with watercolors, here is my attempt. It is very moody and definitly not like my usual landscapes, but I like its simplicity. In fact, it is quite the opposite of my last piece, fantasy landscape watercolor, which is very colorful and playful. I used a half sized page so it is only 7" x 11" and a limited palette of mostly payne's grey and a little ultramarine blue and burnt sienna.

Fantasy watercolor landscape

 I usually base my landscapes on a photo I've taken, but this landscape was fabricated from my imagination. Well, maybe not completely from my imagination because I did use about 4 different reference pictures and combined them into this fantasy landscape.

Figuring out where the light souce comes from is one of the most challenging parts of creating an imaginary landscape. It seems kind of like a night scene with the stars and "moon", but the rest of it seems like daytime. Maybe I should go darker with the sky and redo the stars to make them stand out more. I will let it sit for a while and come bake to it...what do you think?

trees

I first started this "creative journey" of mine back in 2012, and every once in a while, I like going back and looking at some of my older work to see my progress. I came across my painting of "trees" in one of my friends' living room. He had purchased it from a silent auction that I had donated it to. I had never blogged on this painting, but I remember it well. I painted this in February 2013 plein air along the American River. It was a quiet spot at a bend in the channel by the islands near Rio American HS. (Right around the corner from where I had painted plein air painting small rapids almost a year later, one of my favorite areas along the river!)

My friend had told me he had felt a connection to this painting because another friend of his had created a similar watercolor, based on a poem that he had written. Here is the poem that my friend had written:

And here is the painting that his poem inspired:

Untitled landscape

This landscape painting was originally inspired by a screensaver photo so I don't know who to give the photo credit to, or even a location that the picture was taken. It just captured my eye because it seemed so peaceful and serene.

I really focused on the shadows on the mountains, trying to keep a consistent color.  Payne's grey does a great job with this, creating a shadow but letting other colors shine through. I also used it in the clouds. I'm not sure about the dark strip of grass in the foreground, though. It feels out of place. I think I need to tone it down a bit so I blends more. 

I'm still not sure what I should title this piece...any suggestions?

Autumn along the river

It is finally feeling like fall weather here in Sacramento! Yesterday was a sunny but crisp morning in the 40's and normally I would not venture out in the cold this early (8 am on a Saturday) but my daughter had an appointment to go to, so after dropping her off, a headed down to the river near the Sunrise Blvd river access along the American River. I had most of my painting supplies with me but was only inspired enough to take a few pictures with my phone due to the cold. The leaves of the trees along the river are starting to turn their many colors, and the river, although very low due to a very dry year, was peacefully reflecting those colors. An egret, which was actually sitting in another spot along the river, seemed to be enjoying the early morning calm as much as I was, so it seemed fitting to place him in the painting.

Cosmos, spraying watercolor

OK...finally left Maui and back to mainland mind. Nothing like getting back on track than my Artist's Way group. They always stretch me out of my comfort zone and try something new. This month, one of the artists in the group brought liquid watercolors in spray bottles. They were the little travel size bottles with a little pump on the top. I had to let go of any control and just let the sprayed paint land where it may. Trying not to get too much water on the paper was a challenge. Once it started coming together like a starry sky, my mind envisioned seeing the Milky Way from the top of Mt. Haleakala...oops, Maui reference.

The last couple of steps that I did was to splatter some white onto it with a bristled brush, and then spray it with an iridescent gold. It all depends on what angle the light hits the painting as to whether the gold shines or not.

I later saw this image online of NASA's largest picture ever taken and it reminded me of my painting!

Iao Needle and stream

Iao Needle, located within the Iao Valley State Park is one of the most recognizeable landmarks in Maui, not only for its striking natural beauty, but also for its historical significance.  It was here in 1790, that King Kamehameha battled with Maui's army in his quest to unite the islands. Even with the Iao Needle serving as a lookout point, Kamehameha defeated Maui's army in a ferocious battle that ultimately changed the course of Hawaiian history.

OK, enough with the history lesson...there are so many shades of green in this valley, and trying to capture the beauty of this place is challenging. I used stippling, lots of dots, to represent the leaves of the trees and to give the painting some depth as well as texture. The bridge brings out a nice architectural contrast against all of the foliage. To the right of the needle, I was trying to capture the look of the clouds descending into the valley...was I successful?

Mountain landscape, watercolor

Originally, I had done this mountain landscape in pencil, inspired by a watercolor demonstration by Dale Laitinen.  It's fun to transform a pencil sketch into a colorful painting. There is no "wrong" color other than what is in my head saying trees should be green and sky should be blue. 

 

I think it needs a little more contrast on the mountain to show where the light source is coming from, as well as some more shadows in the trees, but I think it does a pretty go job transporting the viewer to a serene location in the mountains!

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Round mound and Nevada beach revised

Frequently when I am painting outdoors, I miss details that I don't notice until I get back to my studio. This painting of Round Mound and Nevada Beach was one of those that needed a little revision once I got back indoors, especially since toward the end, I was focused more on the impending storm than the painting.
My original plan was to have the painting's focus be on the clouds and they just weren't capturing my eye, so I reworked them to be a little more eye-catching. Of course I also realized if I don't want the viewer to focus on the hill and beach, I would need to rename it as well...Impending Summer Storm

Round Mound and Nevada Beach

So I decided to find a spot without the crowds..a tough thing to do anywhere along Lake Tahoe. I went for a walk starting at Lakeside Beach and went past the No Trespassing signs (with fine print that says "ok to pass at waters edge"). I found a nice shady spot under a tree, and started to paint Round Mound...yes, that's the official name, I looked it up.  My main focus of this painting was the clouds (but I did get caught in the trees). The thunderheads were building quick, and you can tell by the how dark it got that I finished just in time.

Plain air painting at Lakeside Beach

Trying to escape the heat, my family headed up to South Lake Tahoe. The scenery up there never disappoints. One of our favorite beaches is Lakeside Beach. Although the beach can get pretty crowded, if you get there before noon, it's not to bad. I scoped out a spot back among the trees to avoid getting any more sunburned than I had the day before and started to paint. Already the sunbathers were out and I had to determine how many of them would make it into my painting.
I narrowed it down to three although my original sketch had 5. Painting subjects while they are moving around is quite a challenge, and although these sunbathers didn't move around too much, it was enough. I'm not sure I'm happy with the composition of the painting. I need to crop out some of the sand. The focus of the painting is also unclear: the lake and mountains, the sailboat, the sunbathers, the clouds?

Great Scott road biking watercolor

How is it that my posts sometimes just disappear? Anyways, here it is again...

I got an invitation to the Great Scott Road Bike and Walk event in celebration of May being Bike Month. The event closed down Scott Road as well as several other roads so that bikes could enjoy the  beautiful scenic oak-covered grassland that these roads go through without worrying about cars. I was invited to come out and plein air paint along the route. I got a late start though and didn't get out until it was too hot to sit for a couple of hours painting, so I did the next best thing and took pics with my phone so I could paint back at my studio. Once I got home, I combined a couple of my photos to make the composition for my painting, then traced it onto my paper and started to paint. I was not sure if I should include the barb wire, but I think it works. The spokes of the wheels, on the other hand, I decided to leave in pencil.

Wild irises along the river, plein air

A beautiful spring day along the American River, I went out to enjoy the river and sun with some friends. Of course I was inspired to do some painting, with the wild irises all in bloom along the banks.
Why do I paint? I paint because it allows me to escape from work and go within to find joy. Painting creates an intimate connection with my subject, in this case, my favorite model, Mother Earth. This plein air painting done at William B. Pond is a perfect spot for demonstrating this: a quiet spot away from the bustle of the city where I can reconnect with nature.

I actually painted this same tree cluster a couple of years ago as one of my first plein air paintings, but from a different angle, William B Pond.  It is amazing to see how much my painting style has improved over the last couple of years.

gristmill plein air reworked

Sometimes after letting a painting sit for a while, I will go back and see if I can improve on it.  Usually it doesn't take a month before I do this, but in the case of my Gristmill Plein Air painting, it has been longer than that.
It did not seem quite finished but I could not quite figure out what it needed.  I decided to post it onto a facebook paged where fellow artists critique your work.  Wow, talk about putting myself out there! There was lots of input as to how to improve it.  One of the comments was that the waterline cut the picture right in half, it looked like two different paintings put together, and there was no point of focus.
So I decided to just go for it, and try to apply some of the ideas that had been thrown out there.  I raised the waterline and broke it up with some grasses. I lightened the foreground a bit and darkened the background to try to create more depth in the painting. And I added a point of interest, the fisherman. I rarely put people in my plein aire paintings so this was a big challenge. He looks a little stiff but I think it works.

 

Before

After