The Arroyo Seco, Pasadena

"San Gabriels Over the Arroyo"

18" X 24" Oil on canvas

      I think this is my 3rd attempt at painting the Colorado bridge spanning the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena. The first attempt was too close casuing me to get hung up in details so I just completely scrapped that one, haha. Somewhere around here is a nice landscape covering my feeble attempt. I like this view only because you can see more of the San Gabriel mountains in the background and the nice vegetation in the arroyo. The fact that it also causes the bridge to be in the distance is a not overlooked by me bonus.
      Many, many painters have painted in, near or above the arroyo over the years so I feel honored to be able to paint it along with them and with decent results. If you want a foliage workout the arroyo can give it to you. I took more time to work on these treees and plants wanting not only to get better at them but to experiment and also to just enjoy myself painting them....it's funny because at first there is so much canvas to cover and it can be almost overwhelming. Enjoyment wasn't even in the picture then but it soon became that. Everyone had gone to bed, it was quiet and so I just relaxed and took my time.
      When I look at this painting I think of  my Dad. He's gone now but I spent so much time as a kid being taken to these mountains to camp by my Dad...and besides, on the otherside of this bridge, about 1/4 mile, is the Rose Bowl. I played football in it in high school and also graduated there. Right next to it is Brookside Park golf course...my Dad was the golf starter there for years. My Dad also worked at another golf course, Carmilita, which is long gone but over it was built the Norton Simon museum. My Dad, Pasadena and I share a lot of things in common.  

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....

Arroyo Seco Sycamore

"In The Arroyo"

22X28 Oil on Canvas

This is the second painting that has been juried into the California Art Club show in South Pasadena at the Fremont Gallery. I snapped this pic just after framing it. This is on the path just north of the Colorado Street bridge and the 210 freeway bridge. There are some really nice sycamore trees on that path that give awesome shade when it gets hot down there on the trail.

I had ordered another frame for the smaller painting but it didn't arrive on time for the turn in of work for the show. We did that on monday and that new frame I had ordered was leaning against my front door when we got home from turning in the work. If it wasn't for the 130 mile trip back down there I would have taken it down to switch the next day but with gas prices hovering just below $4 a gallon that isn't going to happen. 

  

The Arroyo Seco

"Fading Light At The Arroyo"

18" X 24" Oil on Canvas

A while back I was shooting reference photos in the Arroyo, the riverbed that runs from Pasadena down into Los Angeles close to Dodger Stadium. One of the scenes I caught was the fading light leaving the arroyo in shadow but the trees high up on the edge of the arroyo walls still lit up. I like that sort of stuff, haha. I decided to paint this one trying to capture that light. I like the lack of direct light and it's effect on the greens and dried grasses in this scene. Some slight bit of light giving the hillside scrub a hazy look...fun stuff to work with.   

In The Arroyo

"In The Arroyo"

22" X 28" Oil on Canvas
I was heading to take reference shots of the Colorado St bridge at the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena. Along the way the path went by these nice sycamore trees casting some nice shadows under the dense canopy. I've been trying to paint more sycamore trees so I decided to paint this scene....shadows, sycamores...win/win. Fun painting to do and full of small challenges along the way. This is a busy painting and one I would have stayed away from painting a couple of years ago. I'm feeling more confident with these types of scenes and am starting to enjoy their challenges. The background foliage is mostly just suggested work and after the initial colors are blocked in it becomes just a matter of suggesting leaves and shadows with bits of color notes. In the end it looks more than it really is...all a matter of suggestion which goes a long way in painting. Below are two images of the early stages of this painting .

Above you can see the background "tree" colors blocked in and at this stage I was starting to add "leaf" detail. Just blocking in the underlying background colors fills up the canvas pretty quick. I did this stage before going to bed and thenit overnight tacking up so in the morning I came back to it and just starting dabbing in the "leaves" and edges of the blocked in colors.

In the upper image you can see more of the background suggested color nots are in and I'm moving on to blocking in the dried leafy trail floor. Once these colors were in I went back over them scumbling with a worn brush and knife adding detail to that area. After a while I just jumped around the canvas dialing it all in until it looked and felt finished....and that's it.