Morning in the Redwoods

This Wednesday our plein air group went to the UC Davis Arboretum.  It was very windy but deep on the floor of the Redwood section we were sheltered from it.  There are many redwoods and they grow quite close to each other.  There are breaks and light comes through.  I tried to capture this as the streaks come and go.  It gets darker in the distance with light at the top.  I've tried to handle this with a lighter green background as well as thickness of the tree trunks.  I put a couple of figures in black to give an idea of proportion.  

Solitude

I went out early this morning to the Univ of California, Davis Arboretum to do some sketching and painting. Only the birds were making noise and then some very young campers wound past me in a long single file of bicycles down to the creek. A woman sat alone on a bench staring ahead at the vista that included the creek. I started sketching the scene and she remained absolutely still on the bench so,I included her in the sketch. She was silhouetted because of the back lighting and only some blonde hair showed color on the top of her head. She disappeared when I started painting and then reappeared in the exact pose she was in previously. I painted for more than an hour and she remained almost to the end. I doubt she was aware of me painting. The arboretum is a peaceful place with its plants; a perfect place for meditation.

North Davis Pond

I go by this location every day. This morning at 6:AM a full moon was up casting its light across the pond. It would have been a great scene to paint but I jogged by. Later, this morning, I was back out there painting with my plein air group. We painted many different views of the pond. It was a nice warm sunny day and I had my new umbrella to keep my easel in the shade. I did this in a loose, quick fashion. I experimented with a number of made up greens. The important thing is to keep the palate clean and keep making them. I also do much of my mixing on the paper.

Path Along Putah Creek

It is going to be hot today.  I was up and out early to do some painting.  I even arrived before the summer campers.  They did eventually trail along this path several times to go for a swim and I got lots of nice comments on my work.  The Creek is down the bank on the right.
I mixed several greens to get some value changes.  The darkest greens were distant and the closer greens had more yellow.  They cast very strong shadows.  I was very content to be there painting and staying cool.

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.