Rain Over Davis

The rain arrived overnight and the Yolo Bypass got its fix. This is a stop on the migratory bird flyway and I have painted it many times. It is quite a large area with lots of marsh and water. I gave it some large thunder head clouds and lots of color on the far hills. During my teaching this past month we painted clouds with lots of successful paintings resulting. It is interesting since we do not see many cumulous clouds in our skies.

Putah Creek #3

There are 3 fishing turnouts along Putah Creek in Winters CA.  This morning we had this site pretty much to ourselves.  The sun was brilliant and the creek was running fast.  It is still high from all of our rain, but there is no snow melt adding to it.  It was just a wonderful day to be out painting.  I tried mixing several greens that I do not usually use and was happy with them.  One can never have enough green hues for painting in CA.  What a day; no bugs, plenty of shade and perfect temperature.

Park Winters

Yesterday was a beautiful day for painting. Our group went to Park Winters which is an oasis in the country. It is a place with a restored mansion and new dining room/barn with food that deserves a Michelin star. We tried to find a place to paint among the gardens, old and new buildings. When finished in the morning, some stayed into the afternoon and others argued that we should return again next week. The gardens are robust and in bloom. The grounds around the house are beautiful. I love houses and with the sun hitting the side of this mansion, I couldn't resist. It is not white but a cream and has plenty of gingerbread. I stuck to basics trying to focus on the building and not get into the weeds with all of the detail. Can't wait to return.

Rapid Running Creek

Had a wonderful day watercolor painting in the Sierra Foothills around Penn Valley. The stream was running fast and the rock color was glowing in the warm sunlight. What a day. We had our group there and everyone had a successful day of painting. There is always so much to paint when you go to a new location.

Utah Creek Trail

What a difference a summer makes. Painted here in the spring with greenery and budding trees. After a continued draught everything is dry, dead and dusty. I was out there on Wednesday morning with my plain air group. Lots of sneezing and itchy eyes with the stuff blowing around, but I'd rather be painting.

Vacaville Hills

A wonderful morning with cool breeze and good light. We are all prepared for very hot weather but were surprised at Lagoon Creek in Vacaville. I actually had to put on a light shirt. I painted here back in the spring when everything was green. Not so anymore with our drought. The hills are shades of yellow with the sun beating down on them. I was in the shade but my wet into wet painting was drying very quickly, requiring lots of spraying. I did not spend much time doing this as I am on my way to Cape Cod and need to pack a few things. Good to be out painting with friends.

Plein Air Painting in Audubon Sanctuary

Anther beautiful California day for painting. We were at the Bobelaine Audubon Sanctuary near the Feather River on this trip. There is water and lush vegetation all over this farming country. Plenty of shade for painting and the only limitation was the poison oak growing all around the water sites. I painted from the dike instead of being on the shore which I prefer. After a couple of sketches I got started but then totally changed my focus. Usually, I stick with one of my sketches which has all of the detail and value change. When I do, the painting is easy.

Rain at the Wetlands

Awoke to a cool morning with a few raindrops. Very unusual at this time of year. Yesterday we were in triple digits for heat. We are in the worst draught in years. Is this global warming? Headed out to the wetlands and there was water in the pools and plenty of birds. The sun was not out and the sky kept getting darker. I hurried my sketch and then soaked my paper. This was wet into very wet painting for the top 3/4 of the painting. It actually got cold and the rain drops increased so that I finished the bottom of the painting when I returned home. It is an ideal day for me to get out into the countryside and do plain air painting.

The Vacaville Hills

Our Plein Air Group was out this morning in Vacaville. It was chilly at the start but the sun was brilliant and the clouds kept gathering. After a couple of hours it was clouded over with dark shadows and looked like rain (we would love rain here in California). Recent rain has kept these hills green and beautiful. Painting hills means lots of graded washes to create roundness and depth. There is also the 'problem' of greens. I mixed all of the greens using raw sienna and Ultramarine or gamboge and ultra and then burnt sienna and sage green for the darkest values at the bottom. It never really warmed to comfortable but painting was fun.

Farmland Color Change

Waiting for autumn color on my patch in the world has taken great patience. There are many farms here where I have painted but, thus far, little fall foliage color. We are pretty warm during the day and that may have something to do with change. So, in this painting, this is what I imagine I would like to see. Why not create your own? I did thicken my watercolor paint with some Aquapasto, a product made by Winsor Newton. It is fun to push the color around with this and I think I will bring it with me when out painting on location.

Autumn on the American River

This morning it was cool but the sun was shining. All 10 of us turned out to paint on the river and the day was perfect. The fishermen were out and the fish were jumping. I was told that they are salmon. There is little change in color to the tree canopies but nothing very pronounced. I think that we need some cold nights and the yellows and reds will be brilliant. As the morning progressed, the clouds moved in and the shadows grew darker. I was done in 2hr.

First Rains

Painted this morning from under a bridge. The light was not the greatest but watercolor and rain are not a good combination, so we stayed dry under the bridge. The plein air painting was done at a remote site on the University campus. There were 7 of us braving this first rainfall of the season. The steady drizzle and brought some leaves down. I decided to use only 3 primaries to paint the scene. I figured on using greys, so mixed raw sienna, permanent rose and manganese blue. These combinations provided all the colors that were needed. One issue though is that my paper (Arches 140 cold press) stayed wet and the paint always diluted out and made it difficult to get edges. There was no way to dry it while painting.

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.

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.

Cantelow Road

The Winters' Plein Air week has started. There are wonderful places for painting, wherever you turn.  Out in back of the lake there is a favorite route for bicycles and they go over Cantelow Road.  The vista to the east is spectacular.  On a clear day you can see the buildings of downtown Sacramento.  The view to the west is this valley with undulant hills and small farms.  While I painted, the bikes came speeding down the hill and at first, sounded like cars.  While I was not at the top, the bike riders managed to get up a lot of speed.  The road is a single lane and has some rough spots.
 
The red roofed farm below has a pond behind it and a long field of mustard trailing back up the hill.  There was mist in the valley beyond which separated the tall mountain.  It was a beautiful day for painting.

Eucalyptus Gateway

The eucalyptus tree thrives at Point Reyes.  There are plenty of them springing up in otherwise barren spots and they are as common as redwoods.  This was a midmorning painting. I was in the parking lot with the sun high in the sky on a perfect day.  I was worried that I would overwork the tree canopy as I painted it.  My goal is to paint watercolor with as few brush strokes as possible. The bark is also interesting.  It becomes very light in large areas.  The tree behind the eucalyptus is a fir tree, probably spruce and the trunk color is constant.  There is also one of those leaning green cypress or juniper type growths behind the spruce.  These are also characteristic of the north coast.  They lean from the wind and have a spear appearance. 
I need to go to the library and consult the references on trees.  Isn't it amazing how curious you get from painting and observing>

Point Reyes Station, CA

Arrived at White House Park and painted on the creek.  The fields are yellow and the hills brown at this time of year.  The characteristic brown hills of Point Reyes are in the distance.  The time was just before noon yet the hills are shadowed which helped to give them a good three dimensional mass.  I left the white in to connect up with the house structure and not isolate it as a bulls eye.

Cache Creek Remnant

The sun was bright while we were painting this morning in Esparto, CA.  The Cache Creek runs through with its stone riverbed.  Right now, the water level is low and debris from previous storms line the banks.  I found this spot with an old tree and set up behind it for a painting.  You can see the low water level in the background and the carved out river bank.  Everything is very dry.  This scene will change when the rains come in early winter.  My tree stump will probably relocate when that happens. 

Old Cranberry Bog

This was my final day of painting on Cape Cod.  I returned to the Harwich Conservation Area where I had painted earlier in the month.  The morning was crisp but sunny.  The area is an overgrown cranberry bog for the most part but has this water channel running through it.  There are birds chirping, crows squawking and even a fox out for a stroll.  It is fall and there are plenty of yellow and red colors to add variety.  It is a wonderful day for the senses.

MORNING VISIT TO GRAMPA

This is a large (24x28 inch) watercolor painting.  It includes several of my favorite subjects like barns, tractors and Volkswagen bus.  I just finished up a teaching session and while doing a demonstration, I thought of this composition.  The light is from the left casting shadows so it could be morning.  The sky is a warm yellow and the painting is warm.  The gradated wash of the sky gives a depth to the distance.  I like the composition and the story.  I am reminded of a rural location in Northern California or Oregon.