Tag: rain forest

On the Way to Second Beach

On the Way to Second Beach

About 10 years ago we spent several weeks exploring the Olympic Peninsula in western Washington State. This corner of the country is home to rain forests and here, a virgin forest of ancient cedars covered with moss and dripping with foggy condensation. To get to Second Beach, we took a trail through this forest. At times I wondered if we were still on the trail, but there were others, too, bound for the beach.

This forest goes straight out to where the beach meets the forest. One moment you are in a dripping and scary forest, and the next minute, out on a wide flat beach with sea stacks, and behind you, an edge of a forest that all looks the same! Luckily, the exit to the forest and entrance to the beach is clearly marked, otherwise, I doubt few people would make it back to the parking lot.

I don’t think I have ever seen anything as magical as this forest. Nor, do I think, have I ever visited a rain forest. It was very quiet and eerie, but I recall birdsong, dripping water, and the fact it was so quiet even with others nearby. The trail was covered with fallen cedar needles and moss was thick everywhere. A hush pervaded and could be felt like a blanket, yet it was comforting and joyful at the same time. Seeing such beauty reminds us other, older times, and the magic in the natural world.

WWM 2019: Days 20-26

#WorldWatercolorMonth2019 is flying by!  It has been a lot of fun, in the doing, pondering interpreting the prompts, and in the progress made from just daily painting.  I have some really awful paintings, and some of which I am rather proud.  So, with no further ado, the prompts and the paintings!

WWM #20:  Buildings

Here, some old buildings in Paris at sunset.  I am rather pleased about this watercolor for a few reasons.  Perspective works, with decreasing detail, lines, and atmosphere.  The sky is pretty killer, too!

WWM #21:  Patterns

I was pondering this one – I thought of all sorts of patterny things, but in reality, nothing grabbed me.  As my studio – particularly the sewing area – is in total disarray, sewing patterns suddenly seemed perfectly obvious.

WWM #22:  Rain Forest

I always imagine a rain forest as the French primitive painter Henri Rousseau showed it. The above is a rather poor homage to his great imaginings.

Here, from some photos and memories of our trip to the Hoh Rain Forest in Washington State. Paths wander beneath ancient cedar trees covered with moss, a green canopy, and little if any sky visible.

WWM #23:  Beach Fun

Pales, buckets, and surfing at sunset – all great fun at the beach!

WWM #24:  Treats

Cookies!  I really love cookies (but like pie better, I admit), and for elegance and color and delightful flavor, macarons!  Here, lemon, mocha, pistachio, orange, and raspberry.

WWM #25:  Shades of Pink

I have to say, I like these raspberry macarons a lot!

WWM #26:  Natural Wonders

The White Sands National Monument in New Mexico is an amazing place – white sand dunes in the middle of a desert, scant plant life, dramatic skies and mountains all around.  It was also incredibly difficult to paint the whiteness of the sand . . . nothing particular awesome about my paintings.

On the other hand, the Arches National Monument has some amazing things to offer – arches being one.  The sandstone, eroded by wind and rain, has left some amazing geological remnants behind.  This watercolor really pleased me . . . again, perspective and distance issues, as well as my usual problems with conveying depth.  To do so, I simplified the background hills with a few lines of color.  I put more detail into the middle ground, which was the arch and the red sandstone behind the arch, and in front of it.  Plants on the lower corners and border became the foreground.  To aid more in the depth, I did a light blue-grey glaze over the mountains, and applied a warmer glaze a couple of times in different areas of the arch and sandstone.

To be continued!

WWM #22: Rain Forest

I don’t know about you, but rain forests belong in the tropics, filled with tigers and monkeys and long, poisonous snakes.  At least, that is my fantasy.  The French painter, Henri Rousseau, has a number of paintings which are of the jungle, and always make me think this is what a rain forest looks like.

This gouache is a tribute to the wonderful work of Rousseau, and while certainly not on the same caliber as his work, I hope it does convey the richness of his imagination with a bit of my own.  

Within the United States, we have a rain forest, the Hoh Rain Forest up in the Olympic Peninsula area.  We went there several years ago on a road trip, and hiking through this forest was an eerie and otherworldly experience.  You cannot see the sky for the density of the trees, branches, and moss overhead.  Following the trail, which was clearly marked, showed you the wonder of a primitive world, bathed in its own soft gold-green light.