Anza Borrego -plein air paintings from the California Desert

Near the end of January we had scheduled camping trip to Anza Borrego State Park. I had painted there before, but this time the challenge would be squeezing in a painting on arrival day after driving and setting up camp, then again on departure day. With some planning it all worked out. Below are my four daily paintings. If you're interested in a purchase just email me: karenwernerart@gmail.com

DESERT DUSK 6x8 inches. Barely time enough to squeeze this one in. Late afternoon. The sun dropped behind that mountain and instantly the light was gone.

CAMPGROUND PALMS 10x8 inches A morning painting followed immediately by a wind storm. When your paper towel roll is rolling away you are done!

DESERT CHOLLA 9x12 For those of you not familiar with cactus, this is a particularly nasty plant full of fine and painful needles. But boy is is beautiful when the sun shines through. Difficult to capture in paint, but I had fun trying.

BOTANICAL BORREGO 9x12 inches Right outside the campground visitor center there's an informative nature walk. I liked the variety in this grouping, and I liked the nearby restroom too. Always a bonus.

My husband accompanied me on this trip. We enjoyed the many sculptures outside the little town of Borrego Springs, great Mexican Food in town, a hike up Palm Canyon and the REALLY dark quiet nights. So peaceful. I hope you've enjoyed this epic post.

Desert Dragon

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase You'll find lots of these beautifully rusted sculptures in Galleta Meadows, not too far from Borrego Springs. You can drive or walk right up to them and all around them. The dragon's head was on one side of the road and his tail sections on the other. The tail looked just like a gigantic rattlesnake's rattle. I turned the RV to give me shade as I painted. The breeze was cool and my dog sat next to me in the passenger seat. It was a great last painting session. Then I headed into town for some really good tacos.

DEMONSTRATION IN ORANGE Next Monday night, March 9. See blog EVENTS for more info.

Palm Trio -a plein air painting of the desert

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase Number two of three paintings I did out at Anza Borrego. This one might be my favorite.

A Pair of Palms -a plein air painting of the desert

oil 9x12 magnify/purchase I'm back from a few days camping at Anza Borrego State Park. The desert was blooming and the air clean and cool. Paradise! I painted this near the visitor's center the first day. It was about 2:00 pm when I started. The light got better and better, back lighting those palms. The sun dropped behind the mountain just after I finished. Then I packed up quick to ride my bike back to camp while I could still see where I was going. IN OTHER NEWS: Today is the fifth anniversary of my blog. Every minute I hold a paintbrush in my hand I feel so blessed and thankful to God to be doing what I love. I sincerely thank all of you who follow, comment and purchase my work. Without you, it would just be paintings piling up in a corner! And a very special thanks to Carol Marine, the Queen of Daily Painting, who really helped me get this daily painting/blogging thing going.

'Stream In The Desert

watercolor approx. 8x8 inches magnify/purchase When it was too warm in the afternoon, I cranked up the air, and painted this view while looking out my dinette window.

Desert Scene -sold

oil 6x12 inches magnify/purchase This was my first time painting on location in the desert. After so many months of drought, there were few spring flowers, but still plenty of color if you have the eye for it. Spindly twiggy bushes are a challenge I decided. At the start I looked carefully for correct values in the distance, because I wanted to convey the vast desert space. I'm especially happy with that aspect of this painting.

Anza Borrego Desert

Monday I took myself and my dog in our little RV on a paintcation to Anza Borrego Desert State Park. What I loved most about this spot was the quiet and the very dark starry nights. I painted outside in the mornings, as the afternoons were either too warm or windy. The rest of the time I spent inside piddling around with my watercolors. Oh, and there might have been a couple of margaritas and pints of ice cream. Meanwhile, my little malte-poo waited patiently to go home. I guess to her, the whole place smelled like coyote! Here are some pics of the first day. It was 75 degrees in the shade, but I swear it felt like 90 in the sun! I don't get that. I came home a day early to avoid driving in the high winds expected for today. Better shots of the paintings will come once the rain stops and I can photograph them.

Oasis

watercolor and gouache 12x13.5 inches
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The rainy weekend got me working in watercolor. I have a big picture window in my watercolor studio over our garage where I can paint and watch the rain fall. The photo reference for this piece was taken on a visit to Joshua Tree National Park. It was late afternoon when we found this oasis. If you dig down a bit you hit water. So cool!!! The only oasies I had ever seen were in cowboy movies, or "shoot'em ups" as my dad called them. Oh yeah, back to the painting. I used some tinted gouache at the end for the man's shirt and blue sky holes (more subtle in the painting than here.) Lots of fun on a rainy day.