Mendocino Grazing

. This composition evolved from a house that I sketched in Mendocino, CA. The result was just a house so I decided to add. Eventually, the house was reduced to nothing special and I added the landscape. Finally, I put the cows in front. I'm not sure any of this fits with the lovely little town of Mendocino except for the cottage. This is fun making up scenes with no pressure to do anything. I'm ready to start abstraction. I have always felt that abstract art was on a different level. A good friend just died. Her gallery published an obituary with pictures of her abstract work. Their interpretations were wonderful. I always liked her work but she would never tell me the story she was telling.

Under Quarantine

One of my great moments as a child growing up in New England was the 'no school whistle' that sounded after a big snow storm. It meant breaking out the board games and playing music with my sibs. There are some similarities to the current quarantine with the corona virus, painting plus the board games. I pulled out some photos and did some sketching and painting and there went nearly an entire day. This painting is a scene of a favorite bike ride in Winters CA. There is no shortage of places to paint in this area. I like plein air painting there and take it all in including the smells and sounds. It is a favorite.

Rough Patch

Was at a familiar spot for some painting but it was really different. Pretty neglected and the sheep were scratching to find grass. Must be new owners, hard times, on extended vacation?

The Art Ag Outing

We visited a wonderful farm this morning. The day was beautiful and plenty of people showed up to paint. The corn is up to 4ft and the tomatoes are thriving. This scene is along one of many roads and includes the 'bone yard'. There were not many bones in the yard. Everything looked in working order with no traces of rust. It is a very tidy farm. those are the blue mountains of Winters in the background.

Lean on Me

It was sort of chilly with wind out on Jepson prairie this Wed. as we painted. Last year there was a carpet of varying colored wild flowers but the grass has grown so much that they are not visible from afar. I was disappointed. In order to shield myself from wind and paint, I found a large trash bin and set up beside it. I painted this group of Eucalyptus that was close-up and real, about 6 feet from me. I am not a realist and do not like realism in artwork. This is as real as it gets for me. One thing that wind does bring is quick drying time for watercolor. I used lots of water and was continually adding more pigment to previously painted areas.

Just Resting

Painting this morning at the Yolanda Ranch, Woodland, CA. Many structures and old buildings on the property. Also some very friendly animals watched me paint. Two ducks kept me company along with a large black angora cat who desperately wanted to be petted. I chose this leaning house because it was tired and old and that could be said for most of the stuff here. They are restoring the main house (not this one) to host wedding parties. Many people showed at 8AM but by 11AM, when I left, there were just a couple of cars. The cast shadows were changing while I painted. The fronts of the barn and house were totally shadowed at the start but only had partial shadow later. It was not a very sunny day but cloudy off and on. My paper dried fast so I kept misting with my spray bottle.

Sheep

Spent the morning at the Jepson Prairie Preserve in Dixon, CA. Quite an interesting place with wild flowers and vernal pools. The yellows that appear in the lumpy grass are carpets of wild flowers that are all over the place at this time of year and called yellow carpet. The grazing sheep control the nonnative grasses and weeds. I assume that the fleece of these sheep is not used for clothing as it appears very coarse and yellow. The sheep do keep moving but return and so easy to sketch. This was a very quick sketch and painting. It was a beautiful morning; very quiet with only the sounds of birds.

Barn at Chowdown Farm

Another hot day coming up but it is not hot at 8AM.  Our Yolo ArtAg farm for this month's paintout is the Chowdown Farm in Esparto.  I found my way around to the back of the barn because the sun was there.  It is a great old barn that stands in the weeds and is still used.  This side of the barn is pretty much boarded up.  I like the finding of reddish boards used to close the openings.  It was a wonderful morning of painting except for the disturbing gun shots that continued all morning.  I later found out that the sounds are played from a recording to keep birds out of the orchard.

I painted under an umbrella that has a solar shield.  I need to get used to it's effect on my color since the reds came out much redder than they appeared on wet paper.  All in all, a wonderful morning of painting.  Eventually, the flies found me and kept pestering.  It always takes awhile but when you are found they don't quit, so I quit.

Sutter Buttes

We painted in Colusa, CA at a city park on the Sacramento River.  Looking down the river you could see the Sutter Buttes, the world's smallest mountain range.  It was a warm day and it was only morning. It gets very hot in Colusa during the summer.  We were finished shortly after noontime.  At this time in June, there is plenty of water in the river but it will dwindle due to our severe drought.

This is an acrylic painting done from two watercolors that I did on location.

Sunshine on the Delta

What a glorious day today.  I painted on the Sacramento Delta at the Reamer Farm in Clarksburg.  Temperatures have been up to 100 degrees by mid-afternoon, so I was out there a little after 8AM.  Some birds kept me company but it was a cool quiet morning and I had my umbrella to protect me from the sun.  No bugs were around and the grape vines were very robust with the drippers going.  This water is actually a slough which runs off the Sacramento River.  There are many of them which make up the Delta.

Oak Park Theater

Painted on a beautiful day in Oak Park section of Sacramento, CA.  The Urban Landscape Plein Aire group is managed by Patris.  She finds the place and takes us out to paint.  Weather has been ideal for plein aire painting.  Of course, we do need rain in California but have to take advantage of these nice winter days. 

The large building is the Guild Theater which has been restored.  It has an intricately designed brick facade which I did not deal with in this watercolor sketch.  I am curious to see the inside and take in a performance.  I painted The scene from across the street on Broadway.  The entire couple of blocks are being developed with condominiums and apartments.  Oak Park will not be the same when it is all done.  What a great place to live with everything in walking distance. 

An Empty Main Street

This is the main street of Locke. Locke CA is an old Chinese settlement of workers who built the great railroads and levees on the Delta.  It is a wonderful place for plein air painting because of the old buildings with porches and dilapidated  alleyways. Some business is still active but it is a tourist destination.  The bikers love to come here and roar up and down Main Street.  We have great weather and yesterday we were there for a paint=out.  I worked wet into wet and boned out some buildings as it dried.  It was a big puddle for a long time but I came back with some dry brush.

Care Needed

It was a frosty start yesterday in Arbuckle, CA.  The sun eventually warmed the place.  I chose to paint the old railroad station and stay in the sun.  The station is actually fenced in with a large sign on it requesting donations for restoration.  I remember seeing this beauty several years ago with all sorts of things growing up through the platform and building.  These have all been removed and it just sits there naked.  I removed  the fences but I painted a rickety structure that has plenty of work needed.  The sun created some nice shadows from the exposed beams.

There was not a lot of activity in Arbuckle but a few cars stopped to pick something up on Main St.  A long train rolled by.  The large parking lot remained empty except for a few painters.  It was great to be outside.

Above Tomales Bay

Driving along Tomales Bay in Inverness, CA I had a bird's eye view.  Down below the tide was out and the ship wrecked Tomales Bay vessel is aground.  A home with a long, long walk is high on stilts.  The brown hills lacking vegetation that characterize Point Reyes frame it all in.  I stopped, sketched and painted the scene to the somber sounds of a bag piper standing on the shore.  It was a great day to be a plein air painter.

Heart's Desire Beach, Inverness, CA

This is a nice state park at Point Reyes, CA.  We arrived early with no one in sight and started painting.  Soon, the beach filled up with picnickers, swimmers and party goers. The trees close to the beach are laden with moss which hangs down.  A few sailboats anchored off shore and we met some boaters who live on board and home school the kids.  But, it all started off very serene with a blue sky that did not have a cloud in it. 

Ridge Above Putah Creek

It was a very hot morning and wasn't even 10AM.  There was a warning on the trail about snakes.  This led me to a shady spot in a wide opening under this huge rocky outcropping above Putah Creek.  The creek was moving swiftly and birds were singing.  I was really into my painting when I heard a rustling in the leaves beside the path.  I must have jumped 4ft.  I looked around but saw nothing moving.  Having been warned about the snakes, I was very distracted from that point on. 

Plein aire painting has so many features.  Seeing shadows dance across surfaces and appreciating values of distant and close objects are just two.  Sounds just add to the adventure.

Morning Meetup

A couple of weeks ago, I was out early to paint in Winters, CA.  I wanted to catch the morning sunlight on the downtown but when I arrived the wind started blowing and the gusts kept intensifying.  I got behind a large tree and painted fast.  Nothing is more annoying than wind.  I really like the result of the early morning sunlight on the building with the color bleached out due to the brightness.  Good things happen when painting fast with gay abandon and not overworking it.  You take risks, are bold and get a good result.

Eucalyptus Giants

Was painting in Birds Landing, CA and moved up from the Delta because of the winds.  It was hot and sultry.  The winds blow frequently in this area and there are huge wind turbines all over the hills.  These lend a surreal  atmosphere  to the sun baked hills.  I expected to see aliens and space craft.  This was my second painting of the day.  I moved into the shade of the giant eucalyptus trees along the roadway.  They created some very nice cast shadows that reached out across the roadway.

Riding into Paradise Valley

A favorite bicycle ride in our area is up through Cantelow Road and down into Paradise Valley.  It is so picturesque that I couldn't resist stopping and painting it.  The fog was still hanging over the valley.  The heat has dried up some of the lush greenery.  However, nothing spoils it for the riders.

Summer Dining in Davis, CA

This eatery across from my favorite train station in Davis, CA was busy at 11AM on a Friday.  I was set up across the street and quickly sketched and painted for about 2 hours.  It is a colorful place and the cooking smells were wonderfully seductive. This certainly hurried me along so I could finish up and eat some lunch.