Ventura Beach work in process

"Ventura Beach"

This may not be finished, I am putting it aside for a week or two to make sure.

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.