Thursday, November 16, 2017

Plein Air with Friend Jeanne


"Falls Creek"
11" x 15" Watercolor
After friend Jeanne and I returned from Colorado, we were motivated to do some plein air painting. I always love doing it with the watercolor society, but both Jeanne and I live far from many of the locations. With Bay Area traffic, we just have to pass up some places. Because Jeanne was slated for some surgery almost immediately, we had to act fast. I suggested I travel up to the Santa Cruz Mountains where she lives and we find a local spot.

Jeanne's favorite location is Falls Creek in the Henry Cowell  Redwoods not far from her home. We walked in about a half mile carrying our gear and set up next to the creek shaded by Redwoods. I had to improvise on gear as my workshop supplies were enroute, including my field easel. I carried my wooden French half easel and the Quiller full-sized pallette.

When we got done, I was not quite satisfied with my piece. So the other day I pulled out the piece and repainted it. I am much more satisfied with this attempt. I wanted to show the beauty of the place left in its natural state with fallen logs and debris beside the creek. The redwoods are awesome trees and very tall so here we see just the trunks of the three trees. The fall sun was shining in the grove.  I used some of what I learned in the Colorado workshop. I rather liked the "happy accident" that resulted when I was impatient and did not wait for the paper to dry to paint some of the background trees on the right. I will incorporate that technique in future work!

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