Walnut Planters

. Last week was the Plein air Festival in Winters, CA. Winters is a wonderful venue for an artist. They have mountains, hills, barns, and a bustling downtown. Everything is there and I have painted in these events for the past 10 years. It does attract lots of artists. I was brought to this home high in the hills and looking out saw this planting activity. The hills were all carefully groomed and cross hatched for planting. Now, they don't plant walnuts but dig little holes for seedlings to be planted. The men walk the acres of field with shovels and then return later planting the little seedlings. The hills of Winters are usually blue but after all of the rains they are still with some greenery. It was a perfect background for me.

Capay Farm

In the spring the Yolo Art/Ag printout was in Capay across from the Cash Creek Casino. The grounds were manicured and immaculate. A barn with a rusted roof and an old rusted truck caught my eye so I put them together in this painting. It seems as though I've been painting a lot of corrugated barn roofs so I added lots of bends and waves to this one and left out the rust. I mixed some grey with ultramarine blue and orange. I made my rust with burnt Sienna and new gamboge. There also was some cobalt blue added to darken some areas.

Tule Ranch with Rose Colored Glasses

. Our Wednesday group was out to Tule Ranch today. A very large 'umbrella' barn greeted us with a windmill nearby. There was solitude as we chose our painting spots. My value study was done quickly as the roof of the barn is clear to the grassy area in places. The sky was blue and the large roof was full of rust. I tried but didn't like my painting so glazed over it with transparent color. It changes it from a harsh rusted scene to the abstract. Maybe I'll do more of this. Watercolor is wonderful in its transparency.