Rental 21

 

Rental 21   oil 9x12 inches

Purchase info here.

In June, my husband and I camped in the High Sierras at Twin Lakes.  We "dry" camped in our small RV between tall pines.  The RV barely fit between the trees!  No phone service and no internet.  I quickly realized how often I Google something!  But back to the painting.  On our last day, we hiked down to the lake for breakfast in the diner, then time to paint.  I noticed high rainclouds, but a gentleman who did have internet assured us there was no rain in the forecast.  (You can guess how this story ends.)  I set up to paint, and after about 30 minutes of dissatisfaction, wiped off and spun my easel in the direction of this scene.  I was nearing the finish when a very strong wind came up.  (The kind of wind when people scream, grab things and run for cover.)  I held onto my easel till it passed, and noticed the clouds had darkened.  Finishing quickly, I then packed up and we hiked about a mile back to our RV.  In an instant, the clouds let loose with big drops.  The wet earth and pines smelled wonderful! I'm happy with this little painting.  Sometimes having to paint fast is an advantage. It results in an underworked loose and lively painting.  

IN OTHER NEWS:  I have a few spaces left in my November 13-14 Workshop.  This in-person workshop is chock full of content.  You'll learn a lot in just two days!  Email me for a full description.  karenwernerart@gmail.com

Randy's Whate Tours

 

Randy's Whale Tours  12x9 acrylic

Purchase info here.

A while back I bought some acrylic paint.  I wanted to play around with a fast drying water soluable medium.  I thought maybe they would be more convenient to travel with,  Well I haven't been able to leave my oils at home yet!  In any case, this is one of two paintings I have finished in acrylic.  We visited Monterey a few years back, so I used my photo reference for this painting.  

Snake River

oil 9x12 inches For a closer look and purchase info, click here. I painted this on location, but reworked it quite a bit in the studio when I got home. Thankfully, TSA left my paints alone in my suitcase, but this painting arrived home with a scrape down the center. Maybe they stuck something down into my panel carrier between the wet paintings or pulled the paintings out. There's no way to know. In any case, fortunately I had planned to finish this one at home anyway. It was a hot day on the river, and hopefully you get that feeling from the painting.

Fountain Rest -a plein air painting from the Orange Circle, City of Orange, CA

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase info Seldom do I go back into a dried painting, but on this one I did. My aim was to bring more attention to the figure. Below is the painting before reworking it.

Boulder Bay -a plein air oil painting from Big Bear Lake, CA

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase info I made adjustments in the studio to enhance atmosphere and light. I lightened up the value of the distant mountain and grayed the color to push it back in space. I warmed up the shadow sides of rocks a bit, and added light and warmth to the lit surfaces. Sorry about the wet paint glare in the upper right.

Fountain Rest -a plein air oil painting of the Orange Circle

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase Our weather has been beautiful and I've gotten out to paint the last two days. Friday I painted this at the Orange Circle. It sprinkled a bit, but I just kept painting. My little dog Sandy went along and attracted lots of nice folks, especially children who wanted to pet her. I enjoyed painting and chatting with them as the cars swirled around the circle. They're swirling much faster than they did when I was a kid, and honking now too. We have become so impatient, especially in our cars. All those honkers need to sit by this fountain a while! I think this man discovered that I was painting him. He soon got up and left before I could get the dog in. I added the dog last by looking at my iphone shot.

Backtracking

Look what I found on my iphone! I thought you might like to see "Cold Pond" at the cold pond. I was surprised to see how dark the photo is. It had really clouded up by the time I finished.

Below is my palette after finishing, partially cleaned off. Maybe some of you fellow painters would be interested in my current palette of colors. Counterclockwise from center bottom: Transparent Red Oxide, Thalo green I think, mixed green of Payne's gray and Lemon yellow, more Thalo green I don't know why, Cobalt, Thalo blue, Ultramarine blue, Alizarin, Permanent Rose, Cad red light, Cad orange, Cad yellow medium, Cad yellow light, Titanium White (2 blobs), warm white, cool white, palette sludge. That mixed green I learned from Kim English as well as the warm white (TW plus CYM), and cool white (TW plus cobalt).

And last but not least, my little malte-poo, Sandy whom I mentioned in my last post. Who could not love this sweet face?

Cold Pond -a plein air painting at Prado Regional Park

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase Our camping weekend was cold and rainy, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway. Can you see the cold in my painting? It tried to rain on me, but the clouds didn't really let loose until that night. I was interested in the branches of this tree/bush/thing and also the light on the water. There were big storks out there, so I included a few. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Prado Pond, Winter -a plein air painting in oil

oil 9x12 magnify/purchase Last day of 2014 I put soup in the crockpot and went out for some afternoon painting. The day was cold and brisk with migratory birds out and a few fishermen. Quiet and peaceful. The sun was strong and I had forgotten my hat. I ended up painting while holding a rain umbrella in my left hand to shade my eyes. I usually clean my brush with paper towels held in my left. So I wiped my brush on a folded up pad of paper towels laid next to my brushwasher instead. It wasn't a problem at all. I remember Carol Marine doing this, and Kim English doing the same, but with a terry cloth rag. In fact, it was kinda relaxing. Might try that again! It's been a while since the plein air workshop with Kim English, but I used a lot of what I learned: pre-mixing all the colors I see, no initial drawing, but rather laying in the large shapes with thinned paint. Once he said "Cover the numbers as quick as you can." I love that!

Along The Rogue

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase Last painting of the trip. The morning was overcast and cool, but the sun was trying to come out. I got so shivery I had to go get a sweatshirt. I can paint when I'm hot (barely) or cold, but if I get cold enough to shiver I can't control the paintbrush! As a native Southern Californian it felt kinda good to shiver in August. This is one of those paintings that looks so much better in person. Full of subtle color shifts.

Simple Fishing

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase The last few days of our trip we camped on the Rogue River at Grants Pass, Oregon. This couple went out each morning from the other side of the river to fish. They would float away downriver and then motor back up again within view. I tried to capture this simple, peaceful little excursion in their small shiny boat. What a nice morning for the blue-shirted lady. I think she was just along for the ride. Once I got the scene drawn in, the boat floated away of course. So I worked on the rest of the scene until they returned again and again never in the exact same position. I had to rely on my memory. It was a fun challenge and forced me to simplify the figures. Does the painting make you want to get in that little boat?

Armstrong's Fountain

oil 16x12 inches (painting), framed. click for purchase information and zoom feature I loved this fountain the minute I found it in the courtyard at Armstrong's Nursery. The lion heads got me first, and then the sound of the water. The dappled light was appealing and challenging too. This is one of those pieces that invites your eye to wander rather than making a simple bold statement. Though I think it's well painted, it received no recognition in the plein air competition. Ah well...there's always next year. I'll just keep on painting.

The frame is wood, 2 1/4 inches wide, dark cherry.

Big 'n Little

oil 12x12 inches not for sale My son fishing with his little girl, AnnaLee when she was about 2 1/2. I love the way he is right down on the dock with his foot stuck out. She's holding the pole at the very end, maybe attempting her very first cast. Thanks to my daughter in law for sharing the photo.

Fishing Day

oil 6x8 inches Last Saturday after painting out at Yorba/Slaughter Adobe it was still only 10am. I went home for lunch and got a chair and my little Malti-Poo, Sandy. At Prado Regional Park we plopped down under a big shady tree and really enjoyed ourselves. I consider all my plein air work practice/experimental. I'm happy with the water and distant shore. This is the first time I've tried adding moving figures to a landscape. Fun.

Watercolor Demo

watercolor 11x15

This week has been a busy one with not much personal time for painting. Today I gave a private watercolor class for a student struggling with a painting she was doing on her own. She planned to start over, so I did a complete demo from her photo as she took notes. I tried to show her how to paint simply, capturing the essence of the scene without copying the photo.

Class Watercolor Stage 3

Update from January 28th post. We enhanced the shapes of the lily pads by painting the water spaces around them, careful not to outline. We wanted to maintain the large patches of lily pads otherwise all the repetitive shapes would be about the same size. We brought the water to the color and value desired with a second layer. The reflections of branches are added, lifting paint crosswise here and there to indicate water ripples. We removed the masking fluid on the lilies and bushes to reveal several values of green. Next class we'll finish the bushes with some negative painting, add centers to the flowers, make any needed adjustments and the painting will be finished. To see the previous posts in this series, go to "labels" below and click on "watercolor", then scroll down.

Check'n The Map

oil on gallery wrap canvas 8x8x1 1/4 inch
ready to hang
click here to bid



While in San Diego we did a walking tour of Balboa Park. My husband sat down to see where we were going next. The tiles at his feet were also between him and the water, and painted as a solid color field it was reading as a vertical plane instead of horizontal. I had to add some indication of tile pattern receding in space which seemed to help. I've submitted this to Dana Cooper's DPW Challenge; the seated figure. To see the other entries click here.

The Fountain

oil on canvas panel 8x8 inches
click here to bid
shipping available after January 17th

Yesterday fellow painter and blogger Dana Cooper and I met up for a day of plein air at the circle in Orange. This fountain in the circle center just glowed with the morning light. I quickly decided it deserved to be smack dab in the middle of the canvas, dominating the scene. We were oblivious to the cars whizzing in a circle around us, caught up in the perfect weather and the morning light out there painting together. We agreed it was an ideal spot to set up and paint. After a nice lunch we took photos of the area and headed home. I finished it up in my studio last night from memory and photo references. Can't wait to go back!
In other news: Thursday I head off to Meridian, Idaho to visit our son and his family. I'll post again after the 17th when I return. Later!

Two Little Islands SOLD

oil on canvas panel 8x8 inches
private collection Chattanooga, TN

From Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco you can see this tiny island, "Forbes Island", and the notorious Alcatraz in the distance. I don't know if Forbes is a real island, or if the little lighthouse is a real lighthouse, as both are so small. Anyway, the reflections on the very glassy bay water caught my eye. I painted this piece on a black gesso ground. As I experiement with this I really enjoy the texture that can be achieved and the bits of black peeking through as well. I submitted this to the current DPW challenge; reflections on water. To see the other entries click here.

Prado Pond Field Study

oil on canvas panel 6x8 inches

click here to bid

As I mentioned a few days ago, Susan Denison from Arizona paid me a visit just before my trip to Denver. One morning we headed over to Flo's Airport Cafe for breakfast, then Prado Regional Park to paint. The weather was terrific as was the company. Wish I'd had someone take a picture of us...too wrapped up in the painting and fun. So here's a shot of her painting in Colorado. She travels all over in her camper-van going to workshops and painting here and there. Man...she left me with a case of camper-van envy!