"Evening Prelude"

22" X 28" Oil on Canvas

Whenever I drive back from Santa Barbara to Solvang I have to cross over the Santa Ynez mountains. This scene is a familiar sight whe driving up towards San Marcos Pass. I caight it not long ago in afternoon light and worked from a reference photo to come up with this painting. I loved the light hitting that ridge line giving it that pale apperance and the strong contrasting colors in the foreground hillsides along the edge of the road. Stuff like that really grabs my eye.

Here is a detail of the painting....

   

Stream in the Arroyo

The inspiration for this painting came from Pasadena. I wanted to try painting a stream scene and there is a really nice stream running under the Colorado Street bridge and the 134 freeway bridge there. This is the water runnoff from the San Gabriel mountains that originally was the main water supply, along with 4 wells, to the Indiana Colony who settled Pasadena in the 1880's. Above you can see the old Colorado Bridge to the left and the 6 lane 134 on the right.

 Looking under the 134 you can see the foliage that grows along the stream. This stream at times can become a raging torrent due to winter rains in the San Gabriels. Devils gate dam and other water control areas along the arroyo have kept any major flooding from happining for years. I've wandered all over the arroyo over the years and taken plenty of reference photos. Down under this bridge is a great shaded spot that this painting came from.

 Stream in the Arroyo

22" x 28" Oil

Fun painting that came out nicely. I like the bright sun relfected off the sky on the waters surface and the dark shadows on the water cast by both the undersides of the bridge and trees. I also like the nice contrast between the young and old trees.

A couple of details pics from the painting....