L.A. RIVER

I received an email from a new-to-me paint-out group.  They were meeting at the L.A. River, officially the Los Angeles River.  An exciting location!  The rivers flows almost 50 miles through Los Angeles County.  It's in the news frequently for one reason or another.  It has been featured in many movies, but it also suffers from pollution and urban runoff.  There is a revitalization project which has been active for several years so the river is becoming beautifully restored.

It was a sunny day for our paint-out and the view from the meeting spot was wonderful.  To the south is the Glendale-Hyperion Bridge, completed in 1929, which spans the river and a freeway.  I personally like electrical transmission towers and there were a lot of those together with lush vegetation and stunning egrets and herons.

I wanted to paint the landmark bridge from a little closer but there weren't any fellow painters walking south that far so I stayed with the group.  I haven't painted a complicated bridge before but I had fun with this piece.  I also tried a gouache looking directly across the river.

Since 2012, with the remodeling of Disney California Adventure Park, there is now a small-scale replica of the Hyperion Bridge which the Disneyland Monorail travels across.  I'll add a photo from a recent visit.

8x10" watercolor

5x7" gouache

Disney's California Adventure Park