Tag: landscape

Estuary

Estuaries are important connections between rivers and fresh water to the sea. The land may be marshy, the water brackish, and adapt to the influx of waves and sea water and the outward movement of fresh water. Consequently, the estuary provides high levels of nutrients in both the water and the sediment, creating highly productive habitats. Plants, animals, birds, fish, and all sorts of life thrive in the estuaries.

Additionally, the estuaries form a protective barrier between land and sea, but with the loss of estuaries, the damage from the sea increases. A good example of this is in areas where hurricanes and other fierce storms sweep inland, causing great damage – estuaries can survive such storms and recover, but further inland where the land and water are not adapted for saltwater, valuable land may be lost.

Estuaries are found worldwide. In northern California, the Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve is found near San Francisco, and offers a wonderful environment for hiking and observing birds and plants. Currently, many trails are closed, but the visit to Pescadero State Beach is beautiful, as are many of the beaches found the length of the coast of California.

And, if you didn’t know, all beaches are public in California, so even if someone’s house fronts the shoreline, the beach is there for all. There may be a couple of exceptions to this law, but by and large, no one can tell you that you cannot walk along the shore.

Watercolor, Arches Rough 140#, 12×16.

Deep in a Canyon

In the corners of southwestern canyons, near seeps, there is always something growing. These places are subject to harsh conditions, but somehow nature has evolved and beautiful trees and plants provide food and shade and protection for wildlife. And me.

I was really drawn to the contrast of the dark trees and shades of green against an ochre canyon wall. The shadows and the trees and brush create complex patterns in what is often a very barren landscape.

Watercolors, Arches 9×12 140# CP paper.

Urban Mirkwood

Urban Mirkwood

Today I had planned to go to my painting class but when I got out of my car for a dental appointment this morning, I felt a sudden stabbing pain in my hip. So, I am staying home and have an appointment with my orthopedist tomorrow – this is just too weird, and having worked ER and radiology for years, it is a bit scary. Better safe than sorry.

To amuse myself, I scanned some long overdue photos from some Fuji Pro 400H color film I took sometime ago and had processed. Truthfully, most of the photos were rubbish and rather horrid. I thought this photo matched my mood – gloomy, dark, and definitely not one of sunny cheer, which is what this day started out to be! Instead, the humor of it all – or perhaps irony – is here in this photo . . . because I have photographed this little creek in a local park and can honestly say I have seldom gotten one I really like. Sort of matches my mood.

Agfa Isolette, Fuji Pro 400H film, scanned on Epson V600.

Cove

What can I say except this was one hell of a challenge! I wanted simplicity in the form of abstraction combined with atmospheric perspective. Well, the day is crisp and bright, a bit windy, and the light is harsh. Somewhere in there lays a bit of compromise.

The largest areas of the painting -sky, water – were laid in with very wet washes and allowed to dry.

The clouds were lifted out later and more blue, wet paint applied over the initial light wash. Shadows and shapes were created during this step.

The sea was a light wash with simple areas of white left behind in the foreground. Somehow the rest of it sort of happened using a large, flat brush. I find using flats really helps push the abstraction. The same can be said with the shoreline, using color to indicate plants, rocks, cliffs. The most “planned” part of the coastline were the houses and roofs. Dry brush with darker blues were applied with a wide 1″ brush to give the sea some dimension.

I had no idea how this painting would turn out. I like it for the simple fact I did achieve my desires for a simple, abstract painting which still has recognizable subject matter.

Wouldn’t it be great if we all liked everything we did? Maybe not – then we would probably never progress!

Incoming Storm – Mt. Tamalpais

I do love the views and hills of Mt. Tamalpais year round! The views are amazing, the ocean not too far away, and the sky and weather always different throughout the seasons.

The sky in this painting was sort of an area to play with. Sky in watercolor is done with as soon as you lay it down. For the most part, that is!

Painting a sky is usually thought about and then laid in with a fair amount of water and color, avoiding areas for clouds, letting colors bleed, and all sorts of tricks such as blotting up color with cotton or tissue to make clouds. It’s a lot of fun! Here, I did go back in and lift some paint in the right side of the sky, re-wet it, and then laid in more color. It is okay but did not really work. Still, I did salvage it more to my liking.

Next, the foreground. I like my tree and grasses and rocks. The mid-ground with the trees is also to my liking. The land between the mid-ground and the horizon is too colorful and too bright – it should be a bit lighter and perhaps a bit more neutral.

Overall, I am fairly pleased with the results here. I tried to work as directly with color and water as possible. I used a bit of frisket in the rocks and in the foreground to maintain a bit of white.

As I said above, I try to paint with my colors very directly. This means mixing up large puddles of color and painting from that puddle, adding other colors as I move along with my wash to create variety. It requires a bit of thought as well as knowing what colors work together and so on. I mix these colors on my palette often before applying any to the paper.

Many people lay down glazes and work with layers in their watercolors, but I find that, while pretty, those methods of painting create a rather tame look. A lack of freshness is the only way I can describe it. On the other hand, my approach is quite challenging as I don’t build up colors but try to work with thick, rich colors and pray a lot. As a result, my watercolors tend to by quite gaudy, I think!!

Watercolor, Arches 140# Rough, 11×14.