California Art Club Paint Out South Pasadena

This painting was done last Saturday during the California Art Club paint-out in South Pasadena. I drove around for a bit and saw this fabulous hydrangeas...and the orange cat in the sun. Of course tabby was long gone by the time I got to paint but i tried committing him to my memory. Almost every neighbor in Filmore St. came out to see the painting except the owner of the house.

New notebook. yay!

Two sketches from an unusual spot in Pasadena. Memorial park I think it's called. The Park has a definite East Coast penchant but what attracted me there initially were the blooming trees. They are spectacular. You can see a small one in one of these watercolors. This is one of those rare occasions where I miss the masking fluid. It would work so well with the bloomig trees and little specks of light in the counter-light.

The lesson of nature

The main breakthrough while I was in San Luis Obispo was the fact that I understood that the nature outside is not the only important subject in a painting. Most painters understand color and composition but the really good ones understand that the painting is a natural ecosystem in itself. Color and matter and texture help us recreate the natural world outside by acting as themselves, not being forced and overworked. Watercolor needs to flow like watercolor and oil needs to behave like oil. pounding the materials only makes them dull and lifeless.