Paintsites Blog

Monday, August 17, 2015

Weekend Paintsites, Sunnyvale Baylands Nature Preserve, August 15, 2015

"The haze of a hot day, dry creek and eucalyptus trees meant that I saw unexpected colors in unexpected places at Sunnyvale Baylands Park. To ease into the heat, I made 3 small sketches, followed by a half sheet painting. I realized, that I overworked it and lost the essence of eucalyptus trees, so I tried again in a quick 5th sketch, but yesterday, the zen mode was not to be. Some days are like that. Grumble." Uma

Eastern hills looked pink

These are supposed to be a row of eucalyptus trees

Eucalyptus once again in my study book. The essence of these trees are in the sweeping down leaves and the way branches clump at one spot on a branch before it sprouts. I am going to slow down next time and look before I put brush to the paper.

The maintenance guy was also enthused into joining us! :)

Brad's painting

The first day of the current heat wave: OK in the shade tho' the effects of the drought are evident here and a heat-haze had built up against the East Foothills. The steel sculptures seemed unfazed by it all. Brad

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Westside Community Barn, Los Altos Hills. Thursday, August 13, 2015

This was a new site suggested by Alan; researched and coordinated by Marilyn; and one to which we definitely plan to return. The best views of the barn were from the adjacent Byrne Preserve Open Space (which connects with Hidden Villa thru a wildlife corridor - a potential Hike & Sketch?). And altho' there are wonderful views of the Coast Range, (usually a popular subject or at least significant background element), most of us tried our hand at painting the many beautiful, glossy horses in the barn, in the pasture, in the paddocks, or in the jumping arena. Not surprisingly, the grazing animals were the easiest to paint as they didn't move too much; the ones in motion the most interesting to watch but the most challenging to paint. And for a couple of experienced horsewomen in the group, a chance to recall happy memories.

For information about the Westside Community Barn, see:
http://www.losaltoshills.ca.gov/parks-and-recreation/westwind
For information about the adjacent Byrne Preserve, see:
http://www.lahopenspace.com/Hist_byrne.html

Upcoming Paintsites:

Saturday, August 15, 2015: Sunnyvale Baylands Park, Sunnyvale.
Thursday, August 20, 2015: Warner Hutton House, Saratoga. After lunch we'll take in the "Shades of Summer" exhibit (which runs thru August 29th) at the adjacent Saratoga Library.
Thursday, August 27, 2015: Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve, Palo Alto.

For additional information and details, see the SCVWS website or the August Newsletter.

Note: not all images were captured on site today - please visit again later when, hopefully, additional images will be posted. Also, new images have been posted with Anna Cook's Mexican Garden post - please check them out.

Marilyn, Liz and John ventured into the Byrne Preserve to get the best view of the barn. They got more than they bargained for: friendly and curious horses. Or maybe they were art critics. Either way, they liked what they saw. As will you.

John

John's unfinished painting of the Westwind Barn.

John and his new friend - until the friend found out John didn't have anything to eat - at which time they were no longer best friends. (photo by Liz)

Marilyn's painting of the Westwind Barn from a hillside in the Byrne Preserve.

Yan

Dick took on the barn from a different perspective.

Dick's painting of the barn.

Complex shapes made for a challenging sketch. Brush pen and black ink on Canson 140, washes with Yarka half pan watercolors.   Dick

Broncha

Broncha found an under-appreciated but interesting subject - a row of horse trailers.

This painting by Iris of the Byrne Preserve was the only pure landscape any of us did.

Galloping onward ....

Lisha and Helen paint horses in the big hillside pasture.

Lisha's painting of some of the herd.

Helen's painting of other horses in the pasture.

Candy's first painting of horses in the pasture.

Iris

Some of the horses were sleek and racy looking - Iris painted two large, powerful looking horses.

Cathy and Candy positioned themselves next to the jumping arena for some "action" sketches and paintings.

Cathy's sketchbook.

Candy's second painting of a young student and her horse working out in the sand arena..

Melanie's painting of 'King Arthur' and a hungry stablemate.

Melanie's painting of 'King Arthur'.

Kathy

Kathy's friend kept poking his head out to check out what Kathy was doing -- the distraction became the subject.

All of the animals depicted by Brad were actually horses --- even those that maybe look like mules or ??

Caroline

Caroline's painting of a handsome little horse being groomed.

Marilyn sketching some horses.

The horses boarded at Westwind get alfalfa three times a day. We didn't get any alfalfa but that's OK as we still had a nice lunch in the shade....

Iris, Lisha, Yan and Dick

The rest of us at lunch.

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Anna Cook's Mexican Garden. Thursday, August 6, 2015.

The Watercolor Society hosts Paintsites every week. And it hosts several parties and receptions every year. And then, rarely, it hosts a Paintsite that's a Party. (Or maybe it's a Party that's a Paintsite.) Either way, that's what we had on Thursday in Anna Cook's fun-filled garden. Altho' there is a strong Mexican theme, to say Anna has an eclectic collection of "stuff", all arranged in such a harmoniously appealing manner, would be an understatement. Composing wasn't such an issue here - Anna already did that; deciding what to paint and then "editing" is the real challenge -- but one we're all happy to tackle.

Upcoming Paintsites:

Thursday, August 13, 2015: Westwind Community Barn, Los Altos Hills.
Saturday, August 15, 2015: Sunnyvale Baylands Park, Sunnyvale.
Thursday, August 20, 2015: Warner Hutton House, Saratoga, and, after lunch, the Saratoga Library where we'll take in the "Shades of Summer" exhibit (which runs thru August 29th).
Thursday, August 27, 2015: Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve, Palo Alto.

For additional information and details, see the SCVWS website or the August Newsletter.

Our wonderful hostess: Anna and her welcome SCVWS sign.

Even before we found our way into the backyard, some of us found plenty of interest to paint -- even on the driveway...

Candy

Candy's painting of the entry courtyard gate.

Helen painting in the entry courtyard.

Helen's sketch of some interesting pots in the entry courtyard.

Helen's finished painting of same.

Sylvia

Sylvia's painting of the side yard entrance ....

... which led to the backyard where most of us congregated ...

Note: the "building" in the background in the above two photos is actually a Caltrans sound-wall on which Anna painted a Mexican village street scene.

Note: the buildings in the background in this photo are actual buildings - including Anna's Studio.

Doug

Doug's painting of the always popular Blue Door and Sun - every artist who has visited Anna's Garden has painted this scene. It's not mandatory - it only seems that way.

Nora

Nora's painting of the Blue Door from a slightly different angle than Doug's.

Susan

Susan caught just a bit of the Blue Door in this unfinished painting from a more oblique angle than either Doug or Nora.

Lois

Lois' annotated painting of the Blue Door.

Kathy

Kathy's painting of the Blue Door (looks like the Sun is checking out the lizard out of the corner of its eye in this one.)

Leslie

Leslie's finished painting captured the exuberance of Anna's garden.

"Anna has turned a freeway retaining wall that forms the back “fence” of her huge yard into a Mexican street scene. A wonderful assortment of pots, statues and plants sits in front of it. This time my new painting style with black outlines on hot press paper was perfect for capturing the whimsy of the scene. " Leslie

Getting away from the architectural theme (which is difficult to do here) was ...

Jenny

Jenny's painting of primary colored chairs (I think the one on the right is close enough to "red" to count as a primary color).

“Selecting something to paint was the hardest part here, but these broken chairs grabbed my attention – once brightly colored chairs that have seen better days, already arranged in a perfect composition” Jenny