Castle Rock State Park, October 25, 2012

Although the forecast was for eventual clearing, alternating mist and drizzle had us considering  calling off the Hike & Sketch.   But with each new arrival, our resolve strengthened.    So, six strong, we set out for the park's namesake rock formation.     We stopped along the trail was to paint  an interesting red vine or tall broadleaf tree amongst the conifers in the misty distance.   As we finished, the drizzle intensified and we again considered calling it a day when Jenny and Sylvia arrived and said "Don't you dare (back out now)" or words to that effect.    So we pressed on to the "big rocks" for another round of sketching and painting.     With the weather clearing, Jenny led us on some lesser know trails towards a second major rock formation.     The sun, lunch and one more painting session and it was time to head for home.   All in all, a challenging but successful and fun day!   Brad

Jenny Tero

The paths were much steeper and treacherous than I ever remember them being, and when we had scrambled to to this spot I, for one, was going no further. The mist and damp must have encouraged the moss, which was on trees and rocks, and my painting hopefully show that and the path back down the hill.

Jane Saltman

I couldn’t resist this old soul of an Arbutus standing tall against the mossy forest background. 

Jane Saltman

After a damp and misty hike in the woods, the sun finally came out just as we approached a lookout below Goat Rock. The view was spectacular and the mist rolling in and out over the hills made it even more intriguing.

Brad Santos

 This is a collaboration between my few dabs of color and lots of Mother Nature's drizzle.

Liz Siegel

It was a rainy day but turned out to be so much fun...tree's are a challenge for me, and there were so many beautiful trees I got lots of practice

Sylvia Waddell

Weekend Paintsite Wildwood Park, Saturday October 20th 2012

Wildwood Park is in the heart of Saratoga city on Fourth Street. On Saturday, October 20, 2012, we (a group of eight painters) spent an enjoyable morning to early afternoon, painting in the park. The shadows from direct and reflected light appealed to me and inspired me to paint the trees. Rajit Chandra.

Uma Kelkar

I have found that when I paint what I feel, the painting reflects the emotion back making it a successful piece. There are times when I need to curb this transparency between my paintings and my mind. My work at Wildwood Park, being an example - having done too many things in the morning, my flustered and disorientated mind found the scene of the brook with overgrown vegetation attractive.  The result speaks for itself! To some viewers, the painting might look wholesome because its speaks of the clutter in nature that we come across, to me however, the artist’s job is to weed out the point of interest and in that, I failed. Uma

Sylvia Waddell

I had so much fun with my brushpens trying to do some value studies that I didn't even get my paints out! Sylvia

Brad Santos

We had an absolutely perfect day for the re-birth of the Weekend Paintsites in Wildwood Park in Saratoga.     Such a small park but so many interesting things to paint:  many species of trees - most quite large and picturesque, with some just starting to turn; the Coast Range in the background; and the merry little creek gurgling along.     I parked myself as close to the creek as I could and found lots (too much it turned out) to paint: rocks, trees with gnarly exposed roots, the water flowing around and over the rocks and lots of orange and yellow fallen leaves.     A bonus was the sound of the creek which was just enough to mask all of the urban sounds and really draw me into the place aurally as well as visually.  Brad

Rajit Chandra

Pao-Hua Buddhist Temple, McKee Road, San Jose. October 18, 2012

Another really hot day took us by surprise - this is the middle of October!  Fortunately the courtyard of the temple grounds had lots of shade.  The buildings were inspiring, the interiors colorful and serene, and the insense that was burning everywhere made for a tranquil, relaxing day. 

Jenny Tero

This was a quick sketch on Tyvek paper; you can't help but be loose with this rather slick paper. Just wish I could achieve that on the regular w/c paper. Jenny

Caroline Garborino

Leslie Grimm

 The smell of incense burning while we painted and the unusually warm weather made this a very relaxing painting experience! Leslie

Marilyn Perry

 Many people reverently worshiped at this shrine at the Pao-Hua Buddhist Temple while I was sketching.  It bothers me that I don't know what Buddhist deity this is, so I will keep searching for information. Marilyn

Sylvia Waddell

 

Mixing Grays at Wildwood Park, Saratoga. October 11th 2012

The premise of this special was learning to mix interesting grayed colors for landscapes. We had another fun day learning from reference materials and, most of all, from each other.

Checking out our color mixing charts   (photo courtesy of Anna Jacke)

Artists and their paintings of Wildwood Park

Mary Paquet's wonderful color chart. Not only instructive but delightful to look at too!

Anna Jacke

Gray clouds hung overhead at Wildwood Park, making the perfect landscape setting for our theme - mixing grays.  I enjoyed the exercises in mixing primary colors and allowing my paints to blend on paper in the creation of tree trunks, branches, walkways and gray clouds. There was even a bit of mist in the distance. Anna

Mary Paquet

While painting the old Eucalyptus trunk, I used greys made from cerulean blue and alizarin crimson and ultrmarine blue, raw sienna, and alizarin crimson. The greens were mainly sap green and burnt sienna an ultramarine blue and raw sienna with some touches of red. Mary

Brad Santos

 I felt the 'mixing greys' session, where we shared our techniques and results and then applied them, was a great success. I also came away with some concepts that were new for me. And, I was quite pleased with what I'd done until I got home and showed my little painting to Janice. She said she thought we were supposed to be mixing greys but my painting looked more like we'd worked on 'mixing browns'. Re-examining my painting, darned if she wasn't right! It took some fancy footwork to explain that I was just getting a head start on the next big 'mixing' session --- browns! Brad

Sylvia Waddell

The color mixing session was a great tool to get me thinking about exactly what colors I wanted to create and how to mix them. I so often just randomly dip into my palette and hope for the best! Sylvia

Jenny Tero

All the lessons learned during the mixing grays exercise flew away when I actually came to do this, so I have no idea what colors I used, but it sort-of worked.

Caroline Garborino

Jose Higuera Adobe, Milpitas, October 5th 2012

The building we see today is only a fairly recent structure, build to protect the ruins of the old adobe constructed in the 1800's. However, the fig, pepper and olive trees are original, having most likely been planted in the 1830's. It was a lovely quiet spot to paint on the day we were there.

Leslie Grimm

I almost didn't go to the site since I was feeling a little out of sorts, but sitting quietly and painting this peaceful scene restored my sense of balance.  And, the presence of the wild turkeys at the site was a delight! Leslie

Anna Jacke

This week's paintsite was picture perfect with rolling hills, pepper trees, cactus plants and clear blue skies.  One could not ask for better conditions to paint.  The sunlight illuminated the golden hills behind the adobe, adding sufficient contrast to the subject matter. Anna

Brad Santos

The little Jose Higuera Adobe is actually a pretty uninteresting structure but the setting is wonderful with a variety of handsome old trees flanking the adobe and steep hills behind.   For most of the day the hills looked more brown than golden but, just before we left, the sun swung enough so that they were once again truly golden --- too late for this painting but still beautiful. Brad

Dick Zunkel

I drew the adobe and the foreground with water soluble calligraphy ink and painted the background without the pen and ink rendering.  I will experiment with this "half and half" treatment in the future. Dick

Sylvia Waddell

Last time we were here my painting was a little washed out so this time I tried to punch up the color and be a bit bolder with the paint. Sylvia

Jenny Tero

California gold!  I saw the cattle behind the first ridge when I stood up, so they went in afterwards.

Santa Cruz Paintout 2012

The Santa Cruz Paintout was a great success. Thank you to Karen and Jeanne for organizing it. Here are some of the paintings.

Brad Santos

 I've had this "marine" format (6" X 18") paper for some time but not used it much as it's a little awkward to handle.  It was, however,  perfect for the Capitola paint-site as I could include lots of my favorite subjects --- the ocean, an old wharf, coastal bluffs, a railroad trestle, an art deco-ish bridge, buildings old & new, colorful & muted, and some reflections in the near foreground ---  all on one piece of paper. Brad

Sylvia Waddell

We had another fun day at the coast. Boats are a little tricky to draw - but these "bits" of boats worked for me! Sylvia

Dick Zunkel

As we walked out on the jetty a "sleeper wave" crashed against the seawall splashing over half the height of the Walton Lighthouse.  I attempted to capture this scene using masking fluid, magic eraser, scratching, and a pale wash of Payne's Gray for the shadow inside the plume. I rendered this in water soluble ultra black calligraphy ink and Holbein transparent watercolor paint on a block of 300 lb. Arches paper.  Dick

Jenny Tero

I needed some masking fluid or white paint for this one - just imagine those white masts.