Our final paintout in December 2021 was at Arlington Garden. It's always one of my favorite places to visit and to paint. There are always wonderful views new to me to paint even though I've been there many times. On this visit we were excited to see some beautiful fall colors. And there is always something about the winter light through the trees that I really enjoy seeing and painting.
Wishing you a very happy 2022!
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| 6" x 8" Watercolor |
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| The Wishing Trees |
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| A new entrance for the garden |
Generously, every December our Saturday paint-out group organizer hosts a holiday get together. I always look forward to it. It's also a card exchange for anyone wanting to participate. This year I had fun making my card of greenery and berries using colored pencils and watercolor. I also added some glitter/glue dots on the berries which really made it sparkle.
Last fall when we were not meeting together to paint, I painted some red Nandina berries in watercolor. Nandina is also known as Heavenly Bamboo. There is a tall plant next to our driveway that gets beautiful red berries in the fall. I usually can't resist painting or drawing them. Next to the green, background, bamboo leaves the red berries really stand out.
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| Approx. 5" x 7" Pencils and Watercolor |
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| 7" x 5" Watercolor |
I was recently contacted by an administrator at Caltech about my watercolor paintings. Of course I was thrilled and excited. They needed a watercolor of Beckman Auditorium. It would be for a celebration of life occasion for the former general manager of event productions at Beckman Auditorium. They would be giving the painting to his family. What an honor to have one of my paintings considered for this event.
I hadn't tried painting Beckman Auditorium on any of our many paint-outs at Caltech. It's a very unique and difficult building by architect Edward Durell Stone (1964). The two people I dealt with furnished some photos to use for my painting which they needed very quickly. I chose to combine two photos, including some Jacaranda blossoms in the main photo I used. It was enjoyable to finally try painting this special building for their special occasion.
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| 8" x 10" Watercolor |
Our South Pasadena watering trough is officially Cultural Heritage Monument No. 7. Designed by Norman Marsh, and presented to the city in 1907, it's titled "The Watering Trough and Wayside Station". It was a rest stop for people and horses as they traveled between Los Angeles and Pasadena.
I've painted many times in this location, once the center of South Pasadena, but I hadn't painted the horse trough before. Two paint-out friends were painting in this area so it was time to try it. It was nice day and the lighting on the stones caught my eye.
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| 5" x 7" Gouache |
I've painted at this South Pasadena intersection many times in my years of plein air paint-outs. This building, The Century House (1888), is also known as Halloween House. Two of the "Halloween" horror movies were shot there. Appropriate for this Halloween weekend. In 2012 I posted my first plein air watercolor of the local landmark, Century House.
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| 5" x 7" Watercolor |
A recent Saturday paint-out was at Pasadena's new Desiderio Park. Not only is there a spectacular view of the 1912 Colorado Street Bridge but there's a nice view of the 1920 Vista Del Arroyo Hotel. It's extensive and has many windows. Lots of editing required to do a quick sketch. I tried sketching with the pens I'm enjoying using. I also added some watercolor. My previous watercolor of the old hotel, now a U.S. Court of Appeals, A New Park.
A few weeks before, we met at Eliot Middle School in Altadena, architects Marston and Mayberry. Our pieces are meant for a future auction to benefit the school. My previous gouache piece of the school is here, Some Architecture.
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| 7" x 5" Pens |
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| 5" x 7" Watercolor |
Two recent plein air pieces in gouache, both historical landmarks. I've tried a few previous paintings at the Pasadena City Hall but never the Baroque style fountain in the beautiful courtyard. It's over 22 feet tall with a 25 foot diameter basin. I had to paint fast since my parking meter was running. I would like to try it again sometime.
Just last week we painted at the Oaklawn bridge in South Pasadena. One of my previous watercolor pieces painted there, Greene Brothers' Only Bridge. There was a lot of activity while we painted since it's time to get started on the South Pasadena float for the Rose Parade on New Year's Day. It's fun to watch the Gold Line trains passing under the bridge as we paint.
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| 5" x 7" Gouache |
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| Pasadena City Hall |
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| 7" x 5" Gouache |
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| South Pasadena Rose Parade float underway |
We usually go to Bailey Canyon Park to paint the Matilija poppies. It turned out not to be a good year for the poppies. Maybe not enough rain last winter. So I painted another hillside with some friends to chat with.
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| 5" x 7" Watercolor |
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| A very busy gopher we enjoyed watching |
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| 7" x 5" Watercolor |
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| Matilija poppies |
Succulents have been an interest of mine for many years. It seems that they are more popular than ever now because of their relatively easy care and drought tolerance. Of course they are also beautiful and have an amazing variety of shapes.
I have two gouache pieces to post. When we started painting together again I tried the wonderful fountain of succulents at Arlington Garden. During our painting at home time I did a gouache piece of one of my aloe plants. The challenge was a "close-up". The aloes display some wonderful shapes and shadows for that theme.
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| 7" x 5" Gouache |
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| Succulent fountain past the Wishing Trees |
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| 7" x 5" Gouache |
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| 5" x 7" Gouache (2021) |
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| 7" x 5" Gouache (2013) |
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| Beckman Auditorium (1964) |
