Reflections of an Artist

    A group of intrepid painters from the San Fernando Valley Art Club took to the highway this morning and drove out to Vasquez Rocks between Palmdale and Los Angeles.  I got there around 10 AM and asked one of the rangers if he had seen any artists set up to paint.  He told me to go through to where the restrooms where.  Three cars had come in together and maybe that was the group.  I drove down the dirt road to the end and found the restrooms but not my painting group, so I set up by myself and started painting. 
    The weather was very changeable and the sky went from dark clouds to broken blue skies and back again to overcast.  The rock formations there are very dramatic with 90 degree rocks sticking up into the sky.  With the changing sky and sun, it was a challenge to paint the rocks with any consistency.  The shadows and contrasts were changing from minute to minute.  I left the sky white and started on the back hill with a greenish purple, then started to painted the rocks in the middle ground.  It was one of those days when the colors were mixing so well and I was able to get my initial impressions on the canvas within 30 minutes.   A few of the other artists drove up and set up their easels too.  The final total included Steve Green, Andrew Schwartz, Marilyn Blutter and me.  We all set up near each other.
    After getting the basics on the canvas, I worked on the front rocks and then painted the closer hill on the left.  I took a break and asked for some opinions which helped me to decide what I needed to do next.  To give more depth to the scene, I went back into the middle ground of rocks and punched in more contrast.  I think I was successful and now the eye is drawn into the painting.  I also added the darker green to the back hill to show the bushes and some lighter green to give some dimension. On the front hill, I accented light tan to show the paths that lead back into the rocks, again to take the eye in that direction.  I left the front rocks with less detail so that the attention stays on the middle ground rocks.
    Last, I put in the sky using more color than usual but kept white patches for clouds.  I had a lot of fun doing this painting and enjoyed the input from my fellow artists.  It was well worth the trip and I am looking forward to our next outing. 

San Fernando Valley Art Club

Just a few of the rock formations at Vasquez Rocks
             

    There is a wonderful side effect to being a painter.  My vision has changed.  I see things with more clarity and appreciate the subtle nuances of nature even more now.  Often, as I walk or drive I'll stop and take a photo of a sky that suddenly strikes me as to beautiful to just pass by.  That is what happened as I was driving to my friends house on a windy winters day.  The sky was full of billowing clouds and there were streaks of amazing colors. 
    I loved the sky and the white fence and used those as the balancing elements in the painting. But I changed the road to a dirt road and eliminated the houses to give a more isolated effect and keep the attention on the sky.  My painting is seen below.