Seven Layers of Spring, painted on Mount Diablo

Seven Layers of Spring

The dark pine-covered ridge was the perfect foil for the early spring oaks and poppies.
This was painted on Mount Diablo on Northgate Road looking down from the poppy meadow and across to the western ridges of the peninsula. there's not enough elevation to see it , but the San Francisco Bay is in between the last two ridges.

Curry Point Spring and Curry Point Calm, what a difference a season of rain makes

Curry Point Spring 12 x 22

Curry Point Calm 12 x 22

Same location, six month's apart. Both times I wanted to see the snow on the Sierras, both times there was too much moisture in the air, but it was still very satisfying to paint the changes as this winter's rains brought an end to the drought scenes on  Mount Diablo.

"On a Clear Day" Plein Air Painting on Northgate Road on Mount Diablo

                                                         "On a Clear Day "10 x 13

A couple days ago I went up Northgate Road on Mount Diablo looking for poppies, I didn't see many poppies yet ,but was attracted to this view of the bay and hills of Marin to the North. The higher elevations on Mount Diablo are pretty dry already.  This painting involved a careful drawing of the silhouette of the slopes and the flat lands and mountains beyond.

 Here's an in process shot to give you an idea of how I started. I generally paint the lightest value I think will work in a given shape and glaze over if it seems too light later in the process.

In Process  " On a Clear Day"


Playing around with photo, the sky is actually pale yellow.

Two Plein Air California Hill Paintings

Poppy Hill,14 x 14, watercolor en plein air

Spring Hill 14 x 14, watercolor en plein air

We have had a lot of wind and the driest April in years, so these may be the only green ones for this month. The Poppy Hill was painted near Morgan Territory. Spring Hill on Mount Diablo on SouthGate Rd less than 1 mile up. It is now that stage where half the hills are brown and half are gold. And of course ,the poppies are gone.