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.

Lady in pool, watercolor

 I've always been fascinated by the way light and water react with each other. A reflection in the water is one thing, but when it is just the surface of the water bouncing the light around...that's a challenge I  had never attempted...before now. Thanks to fellow artist, Kelly Murphy, for the photo reference.
The first pic is after my first couple of washes, trying to save my whites ( I really need to invest in some masking fluid), and trying to get a gradation to represent the steps in the pool, while using the right side as an experimental area.  The next step is to add in the color of the lady, the shadow around the hat, and a few more tweaks with the water. I thought I might stop here, but then I decided to lift some of the color to create some highlights in the water. The larger areas I used a Mr. Clean sponge, but in order to lift the finer lines, I used a stiff wet brush. And lastly, to crop off the right side.
I'm ready to go for a swim. Anyone got a pool?

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

American river plein aire, Untitled

Many artists that I have talked to do value studies with a quick pencil sketch before they start a painting. I usually just throw a couple of pencil lines down on my watercolor paper to help with placement but don't really think a whole lot about values. So I decided to give value studies a try to decide if it is a value-able use of time and effort :) 

This pencil sketch only took 5 minutes and I can see how important it would be if I was going to take the painting back to the studio to work on it. Instead, I finished painting all on location and found that it was easier just to refer back to the real scene than my sketch. I did find that some of my artistic choices were thought out ahead of time with the sketch instead of while I was painting.

Since I was experimenting with value studies, I decided to do another sketch that I will take back to the studio and see how that works out...

Monet bridge second version

Here is my second Monet Bridge that I started at home midway through my David Lobenberg workshop. I began the same way as my first Monet Bridge with tracing a photocopy of the bridge with pencil (I need to keep my pencilwork much softer so it doesn't take away from the end piece), then put in some light washes (tea consistency, as David Lobenberg refers to it) and then the color on the bridge and some of the shadows.  I noticed that I didn't have the same saturation of color in this one. I need to make sure I am using more pigment to bring out more color in my paintings.

Finished piece, Monet Bridge #2

Here is my first one to compare it with. They both have parts to them that I really like (as well as some flaws) 

Monet Bridge #1

Monet Bridge, a David Lobenberg workshop

I just completed a workshop with David Lobenberg with the subject being the Monet Bridge and it's reflection in the water ...perfect for me! I love the challenge of reflections. Here is a progression of the piece I worked on during this class (I also started a second one for "homework", but I'll post that one later)

This is the "completed" painting at the end of the workshop.  I have not removed the tape because there are still a few areas I'm still pondering...not sure if its finished yet. I will have to let it sit for a few days and come back to it.

The link to my second attempt of this bridge and the final version of this first one is here.

Afternoon fishing on the American River, watercolor

I decided to take my pencil drawing of Afternoon fishing on the American River and turn it into a watercolor. I liked the composition of the drawing and I had all of the light and dark values.  I just needed to put in color.  To simplify things, I took my original drawing and enlarged it on the copier. Then by putting it up on the window (instead of  a light box), I traced my main outlines. From there, I just had to get creative filling in the colors, drawing from what I remembered  a month ago when I was sitting down by the river.

I've got this painting ready to enter into the "Painting Where the Wild Things Are" show at Sacramento Fine arts Center,  art inspired by the American River Parkway.

Plein air painting vernal pools

Today, I went to the Phoenix Park Vernal Pools, a place that I had driven by for years, but never stopped to see it...of course it never seemed to be the right time of year. The flowers in these pools only bloom for a short while in the spring. So when I got an invitation from David Peterson through the Sacramento Plein Air Meet-up group for a Saturday morning paint out, I knew I should take advantage of it.



I ended up doing two paintings of the same pool but from slightly different perspectives. I tried using a little different style for each on, but they turned out very similar. Which one do you like better?
 

Plein air painting small rapids

I am taking advantage of this wonderfully warm spring weather...although the down side is that we need more rain. The river is particularly low right now.  I am fascinated with the movement of the water, and the effects it has on the reflections on the water, bouncing light and colors in different ways. So here is my attempt to capture this small section of rapids as it flows over the rocks.

Plein air watercolor, shadows and reflections

The weather on this first weekend in spring was just too nice to stay inside to paint, so back outside to paint plein air on the river's edge. Instead of a wide landscape piece that the river lends itself to, I decided to do more of a detailed piece, focusing on the shadows and reflctions of the trees. I am always impressed with paintings that take an ordinary, simple tree or bush and make it artistic. Taking some pointers from a recent watercolor demo, I used some unexpected colors in the foliage, and broke up large areas of the same color.