fencing on the edge

Another one referencing my trip along Piru Creek from Hardluck and completed yesterday.  Once in Hungry Valley, the land is dry and affected by human use.  The difference in vegetation in the areas fenced off, the open area, and the fenced in trail caught my eye at the time.  The peek of cliff that is otherwise hidden makes me oddly happy.

At the Edge of Hungry Valley
acrylic on stretched canvas
20" x 16" x 3/4", $400

sunset at the beach

One last bit of wet color in the form of a sunset at the beach during a low tide.  The dark rocks, the bright edges to the clouds... not sure I quite managed it.  The reference is taken from a December 2012 day.  The painting was completed on the 5th of this month.

Clouds of Sunset
watercolor on rough, 100% cotton paper
12" x 9", $68

twilight over Los Angeles

Some more darkened land in the twilight.  This one comes from Inspiration Point.  Every community seems to have at least one of these, and this is the one above Altadena.  The day, way back in January 2009, was pristine and the hike lovely, even when I found out the batteries had finished in everything that might give me light on the way down.  Okay, there was one annoyance, but it got replaced more cheaply than the batteries.  This painting was completed on the 4th of this month.

Los Angeles Twilight
watercolor on 100% cotton, rough paper
12" x 9"
$68

twilight at Whitaker Peak

Trying out my new watercolors with a wet technique on some rough paper.  First, a bit of twilight from Whitaker Peak while the sky is still red and the burned branches of the chaparral are still stark against the colorful backdrop and the little bit of hint of storm moving in is lit from the bottom.  I'll probably have more of the light show from that day in November 2012 later.  The painting was completed on the 3rd of this month.

Whitaker Peak Twilight
watercolor on rough, 100% cotton
12" x 9"
$68

alder

My 17th tree in the month of trees last November were a stand of alder.  This one has a crafty aspect to it in that I was playing with a bit of technique and came to mind because it is similar to some used on that cliff from a few days ago.  I like the way the trunks came out and I found that I rather like the rough paper.  It takes paint a little differently and for me, there's just a certain "rightness" to the way it does.

Alders Standing
watercolor on rough 100% cotton watercolor paper
14" x 20"
$175

Strawberry Peak

I painted a tree a day for the month of November (2012).  This one from the 21st is of the cliff on the north side of Strawberry Peak in Angeles NF and the trees are a bit incidental.  The reference is from a hike way back in April 2007.  It's a spot I'd like to return to, but is still closed due to the Station Fire.  The current closure expires in 10 days, so maybe it will be open again. Or they'll have another in a week or so to extend it another year, which is how it has been going.

Strawberry Peak Face
watercolor on rough cotton watercolor paper
12" x 9"
$68

Sunset Cliffs

I saw some pictures of Zion and found them inspiring, particularly the first photo in this Modern Hiker post.  Something about the trees still in their winter corpse-like state against the cliffs made me wonder.  I've been having a bit of insomnia and the brain playing with watercolors didn't help, so I got up and tried out one of those thoughts to see what would happen.  Did it work out?  Well, there is certainly potential there.  It had to dry before starting the trees, so I got some sleep.  By the time I woke up, I'd decided not to use a mixture of deep grey and black for the trees, but grind some of an ink stick to use.  The ink stick really does make a wonderful black.

Some memories of specific cliffs are bobbing to the surface, there may be more cliffs coming.

Sunset Cliffs
watercolor and ink on watercolor paper
9" x 6"
$35

Mt. Wilson

Stepping back in time quite a bit further, there is a moment of mist that felt a bit inspiring to me and I had to try something out.  We were climbing out from Valley Forge (no, not that one) up to Red Box on a late July 2007 morning after an overnight with a bit of experimental cooking and now trying to be showered and into work by 10AM... and there were the trees and the mist on the hills.  Memory says it was the trees that had to be done, but my journal suggests it was the hills.  Memory does play tricks.  The painting was done August 5th, 2007.

Mist and Pines Above Valley Forge
acrylic on canvas board
9" x 6" (uncertain)
gifted to a fellow hiker (so I only have the old and rather poor photo)