Friday, January 25, 2013

The Beauty of Times Past

"Santa Clara County Heritage"
11" x 14" Watercolor

"Liz"
Drawing with non-dominant hand
and micron pen
 

Negative drawing
 

 
Old wagon contour drawing
without peeking at the subject

Last Thursday began as a crisp 31 degrees, but warmed up nicely by midday. I did plein air with the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society. Sylvia gave us some drawing exercises and we had great fun getting out of our comfort zone. I was able to apply the gestural drawings and negative drawing when I painted my version of the Sunnyvale Heritage Orchard. I concentrated on one old sentinel tree and the beautiful backdrop of the mountains and sky. The mustard was just beginning to come out so I liberally used some golden yellows on the ground.

Before the mid-50s, Santa Clara Valley was filled with beautiful fruit orchards. It must have been a sight to behold. Today, we have to have a park like the Sunnyvale Heritage Orchard to visit our roots! High tech has largely replaced agriculture, though I am fortunate to live right next to active farming on my end of town.

See sample art and photos on the paintsites blog. In the attentive class photo, I am the one in the bright pink fleece.

5 comments:

Barbra Joan said...

Hi Mary, been a while since I was here.
But I see you are still going strong. Your art is as lovely as ever... Take care and hugs to you
Barbra JOan

Autumn Leaves said...

Nice sketches, especially the portrait, Mary!

Jerry said...

These are great fun - I don't think I would have done half so well as you with that no-peek wagon sketch. I'm completely hopeless at that!!

Unknown said...

Hi Mary! It's so great to see your process. Love the tree!

gotam said...

so nice your art work.