Spring Hills -a plein air painting from Chino HIlls State Park

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase info Another March morning my friend Mary Jo and I went out to Chino Hills State Park. The poppies and lupine were putting on a spectacular show, we had heard. We hiked about a half mile on Aliso Canyon Trail and heard from other hikers that the poppy fields were 2 1/2 miles ahead. Okay, we'll paint right here, thank you very much. My pack is too heavy for that much walking. Sometimes you just have to paint what's around you. While painting, the day warmed up and the poppies were open, visible and plentiful on our drive out of the park. Perhaps our timing was a bit off, but we had a great time painting together and talking with the friendly hikers.

Plein Air Tree Study-sold

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

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Plein air is SO challenging for me, I usually only get one little painting done when I go out, then I'm tired and ready to pack up...(okay, I'm a wimp.) Sunday, with the help of a Tiger Milk bar and an orange I was able to do this little study too. This was good practice for maintaining simple shapes sans all the detail. I'm learning about greens too...maybe you CAN use fairly bright greens as long as it all works together???

Aliso Canyon Trail, Chino Hills State Park SOLD

oil on canvas panel 8x8 inches

Sunday I ventured out to Chino Hills State Park and followed Lower Aliso Canyon trail. I've always loved this trail with it's curve and roll. I've ridden it many times on my mountain bike, and painted it a few. The day was partly cloudy, breezy and beautiful. I had nice chats with bikers, horseback riders, hikers of all ages, and one aggressive bee going after the orange juice on my face...(still enjoying those free oranges!) Below you can see my setup and the scene.

There were some pretty good gusts of wind, but having ridden it so often on my mountain bike, I knew it could get windy, so I was ready for it. I anchored my umbrella with some Marine parachute chord (that should do it!) and the blue painter's tape you see, then I used a bungee cord to hang my backpack underneath to weigh down my EasyL easel. It worked!

Plein Air State Park -sold

My little furry companion and I went to Chino Hills State Park for a sniffing and painting session, respectively. Fortunately, she didn't sniff out any rattlers. Found a spot in the shade and painted this little shack as quickly as I could, but as you can see in the photo below, the light had changed significantly by the end, when I snapped said photo. When I started painting it was lit on both sides. Getting outdoors to paint is always a treat.