Virtual Paintout - Bangladesh!

Wow, Bangladesh was the Virtual Paintout location for February 2015.  Each month for a "virtual paint-out" Bill Guffey chooses a location that Google Street View vehicles have covered.  I've really enjoyed participating for almost three years and love seeing parts of the world I'll never visit in person.  

Bangladesh?  It's the first location that I've had to check out a bit as soon as I saw Bill's choice.  Must say, it turned out to be among my favorite places to virtually walk and drive around looking for a painting spot.  It seemed that there was something interesting to paint just about everywhere I looked which made it hard to choose two views.  A very colorful and engaging place.  I'm looking forward to next month as always!  

5 x 7" Watercolor

5 x 7" Gouache

Drizzle at Lizzie's

A few weeks ago, the Saturday plein air group met at the Richardson House in Sierra Madre.  I painted a watercolor there about six months before and posted about that visit in Richardson House.  This time our paint-out was on the verge of being rained out.  The weather was threatening but since I was there I tried to find a view to paint.  

The 1890's Richardson House stands at the foot of the Mount Wilson Trail.  Now a museum, it's been restored and is maintained by the city.  In 1913, a structure was moved next door which became Lizzie's Trail Inn.  Lizzie's served fried chicken and ravioli to the hikers and packers of the popular trail until the Inn closed in 1948.  It's preserved and is also a museum today.  We were lucky since it was Saturday it was open to the public.  What a treat to see inside!  Quite a time warp.

The weather was very damp which makes watercolor painting difficult.  There were a couple porches to paint under but I didn't see an appealing view.  I walked around the back and found the run-down buildings very interesting.  But there was no sun to make great shadows, and it drizzled on and off.  I chose a tree to paint under and went with what I saw from there.  I tried a quick gouache piece of the hillside before it really started sprinkling and the tree wasn't good shelter any longer. 

5 x 7" Gouache

The east side of Lizzie's.

  

Mission Park

A few weeks ago one of the plein air groups met at Mission Park.  It's across the street from the historic San Fernando Mission, founded in 1797.  There is a beautiful garden area in the park where we all found our views to paint.  The fountains, long pergola, fruit trees, and formal, enclosed beds of flowering shrubs were really lovely.  Unfortunately the roses had been pruned but that just made us think of another visit at another time of year.  I'll be there!

     

8 x 10" Watercolor

Arches of the San Fernando Mission across the street.

  

The Planetarium

On a warm Saturday the plein air group met at Pasadena City College.  There are several areas of interest at the college that might make a good painting subject.  We all gathered at the Planetarium and found our views to paint there.  The college was founded in 1921, and I just read that the Observatory/Planetarium was dedicated in 1931 by Albert Einstein.  Wow!  Getting a full view of the building was hard because it's so close to a parking lot.  I was looking for shade too.  Several of us found a spot to paint from and had a challenge painting the ever-changing shadows on the curved, white building.  A fun morning as always! 

5 x 7" Gouache

Farnsworth Park

Farnsworth in Altadena, what a beautiful park!  I painted there a few weeks ago with one of the plein air groups.  I hadn't heard of Farnsworth which is a stunning location in the foothills.  The property was purchased by Los Angeles County in 1921 and became a park in the 1930's.  The centerpiece is an impressive two-story arts and crafts, American craftsman style stone building completed by the WPA in 1934.  The day started off a bit dreary but some sun finally came out.  I always like to use the light and shadows in my watercolor. 

8 x 10" Watercolor

Rattlesnake Park

There is a new paint-out group that goes out on Tuesdays to paint the Los Angeles River area.  The L.A. River has been going through some revitalization for several years and is now beautifully restored along many miles.  I've painted at the river several times and posted a piece from this year in L.A. River Ducks.  But, last Tuesday the new group was meeting at Rattlesnake Park.  I've driven past the neat, red heron gates to Rattlesnake Park but never visited.  Had to go!  It rained the night before and some clouds were left hanging over the mountains, a gorgeous day.  The park turned out to be my favorite location for painting river views.  There were trees for shade and lots of subjects to chose from to paint.  It wasn't really a park, just a small area with some benches by the bridge.  And we didn't see any rattlesnakes fortunately!

5 x 7" Gouache