Week in Review

"Aspen Grove"  by Terry d. Chacon  (c)

This week my friend Pat and I treated ourselves to a much needed break from studio work and drove up the mountain toward Big Bear to the Aspen Groves.   We were in hope to find them changing colors, but we were a little too early.   After going past the turn off by several miles we back tracked and found another outlet which did lead us to the parking spot to hike down into the canyon to find the grove.   Upon our arrival it was definite that they were indeed there, but the color changes were just starting.     At this point we turned around and retrieved our gear from the car and hiked down the trail.  

 I chose this scene to paint because of the high color contrast of dark and light.  I also liked the stream that was flowing at the bottom and the rocks on the side of the aspens.    As you can see from the camera shot, the trees were glowing at this point, but the camera photo washed out their beautiful color.  

 This photo shows a little bit more of the color and me painting.  

 It was a great time, we left around 1 pm and headed back to find a much needed restaurant.    I have no idea why we went to the forest with only 4 cookies and a few bottles of water.   Much needed lesson learned!  I guess we are just city girls!

On Saturday PAAR (Plein Air Artists of Riverside) held a Meet and Greet to kick off our 2010/2011 season.   Approximately 25 artists and their guest arrived around 9 am to paint Fairmount Park.   Fairmount Park is in Riverside, CA and one of my favorite places to paint.   I always love the water reflections.   I chose in the morning to paint the water reflections below.   This was indeed a challenge.   I had always wanted to paint something like this as I have always been drawn to other artists paintings of this kind.   It did turn out a lot better than I thought, when I got home I added a bit more blue in the foreground which seemed to be what it needed to make it pop and give the feeling that I had when I was painting it earlier in the day.     

"Water Reflections"  9 x 12 oil on canvas by Terry d. Chacon   (c)

After painting in the morning, we all joined in for a wonderful picnic followed  by a critique session of the paintings we had done in the morning.  It was a great meeting and seeing artist that I had not seen in a while and making new acquaintances with some new  PAAR members.   

I had gone over to chat with one of the other artists earlier in the day and really liked the view.   After scoping it out a second time Pat and I decided to give it a try.   By this time the late afternoon light was so beautiful.  I liked the way the boat house was in shadow and most everything was back lit.   The reflections in the water of the boat house was another draw as well as the mountain in the back ground which had just a bit of light on it.     I was quite happy with this little painting and we called it a day.  

"The Boat House Early Evening Light"    8 x 10 oil on canvas  by Terry d. Chacon (c)

Patricia Rose Ford spotting the Aspen Grove from the trail.   (I am sorry this is at the end of my post.  I really do not like the new way of adding photos on my blog, if they get screwed up you cannot move them around without starting over.   But I thought this photo added to the story!)

Until next time, PLEASE ENJOY THE ART!     Terry d. Chacon