Across the Valley ,more accurate colors

 Across the Valley 22 x 22

The electirc colors of the one on bottom were bothering me as I compared my image with the one in Plein Air magazine. The upper image is closer to the painting in color temperature and saturation.

The Wine Country Plein Air Invitational at the Fairmont Gallery in Sonoma

Golden Vines 16 x 12

Three Graces of Sonoma 12 x 16

Reception:
Saturday September 15th, 2012
6:00 - 9:00pm
Exhibition continues until October 17th

More information at FairmontGallery.com

FEATURED ARTISTS:

Michael Obermeyer Jim McVicker Stock Schlueter Laurie Kersey Douglas Morgan Robin Purcell

Manette Fairmont

John Poon

Francine Hurd

Tom Soltesz

Kim Lordier

Sally Cataldo

A Morning Walk, Painting of Carmel Meadows

A Morning Walk 13 x 161/2

Just South of Carmel there is a neighborhood with access to a lovely bluff path .
 This is one of my favorite places to walk in Carmel.
To the other direction there is a great view of Point  Lobos.
 This was great fun to paint in the studio from photos and memory
as it has been in the triple digits here for most of August.

"Summer Oak"

Summer Oak 10 x 12
Painted at high noon, on a hot day this summer, the overhead light created a shimmer of deep red orange against the dark greens. This is what I love about plein air, these are color choices I never would have made if I weren't outside. Usually midday light is harsh, but I like it here. Sold to an arborist, perfect!

Wild at Heart , A California Hill Painting

Wild At Heart, 14 x 14

I've been tweaking this in the studio after starting it in late spring on Mount Diablo.
It is a meadow from what I consider the heart of Mount Diablo.
Up past Curry Point and the outer ridges, there were some  rare and late wildflowers from this past spring with it's late and sparse rains. I like the soft purple brown colors on the oaks as they were leafing out and how that worked with the greens and oranges in the meadow.

"Across the Valley", Mount Diablo Plein Air Watercolor

Across the Valley 22 x 22

This was started last fall and finished after a long winter of work this spring.
It has been very difficult to get a good image because of the value shifts in transparent and opaque passages of color. The blue green in the top part and blue violets in the lower section are transparent and the deep crimsons and burnt oranges are relatively opaque. In person, this painting looks great ,but every time I take a photo the light bounces back through the paper and shifts  the value on the transparent passages. This was printed in Plein Air magazine and it is much truer to the painting in the magazine than it is here. I don't want  to change the painting for the sake of a photo. The cool and warm balance here works very well for me and it's always fun taking a red and green scene and making it not look like a Christmas Tree.

Plein Air Magazine thumbnail