Summer Hill, Upper Valley 18 x 24

Summer Hill Upper Valley 18 x 24

Some paintings take a LOONG time, I 've had this one on the easel for months.
 I did not want to stop painting it.
 I saw a painting of this hill by Arthur Hill Gilbert about three years ago and I have been hunting for this hill  ever since.
I am in love with this hill. The rounded slopes of the grassland remind me of sculpture and the oaks and chaparral are full of strong  exciting colors and textures.
Here is a detail of the chaparral:

Coastal Quiet demonstration

 

 

 Coastal Quiet 11 x 14 Plein Air Watercolor

The fog seems to muffle the sound of the waves, thus the title"Coastal Quiet".  There is plenty of time to take pictures as I wait for paint to dry in foggy conditions.

Point Lobos Summer

Point Lobos Summer 11 x 14

The Coastal Atmosphere series is coming along and I am learning about the importance of  including warm colors even in a cool foggy scene. I was attracted to the rose colors of the ice plant and the sage green of the coastal shrubs. One is invasive and one is native but they compliment each other.

I am also learning about seeing the shapes and gestures that are crucial to painting trees. I like how these two are companion trees but each has its own character.

Here's how this painting started :

Adjusting exposure for more accurate values. This is a little bright , the other one is a little darker on my computer screen

Luminous Meadow

Luminous Meadow 14 x 21 Plein Air Watercolor

This was painted at Carmel Mission Ranch during a light drizzle that was followed by a luminosity that I tried to capture. The cloud cover thinned enough to let the light through and the scene in front of me glowed. In addition to the atmosphere, I liked the pattern of colors that the grasses made, they were cropped by sheep to expose gold, copper , green and blue green areas that remind me of water.

Here are some earlier phases of the painting to give you an idea of my process:

" Luminous Meadow", in Process

This has the shadow from my easel on  the top but I hope you get the idea.

"Luminous Meadow " in process

Pacific Inlet final

I spent a long time staring at this one and changed a few of the values and intensities of the land masses. I am still finding my way with these higher key coastal atmosphere paintings.

Pacific Inlet  13 x 17

Scroll down if you want to compare it to the earlier version.