Irvine Park

It was the last warm day before a series of storms and it really felt like fall in Southern California.  This is the time when I like to paint sycamore trees.  I like to see the bare complex arrangement of branches and their scattered dead leaves.

I chose to paint with a water color under painting.  I wanted to make the under painting dark and moody so that the pastel painting would be more vibrant against the gray colors of the water color.

I worked to establish a detailed under painting that would limit the amount of work I would need to do in establishing the composition.  By doing this I was trying to let the pastels be the highlight of the painting.

 I painted until the sun was started to go down.  The last moments were beautiful.  Perhaps I will do a studio painting from a couple of last minute reference photographs I took.

 The finished painting.  It measures 24" X 37".

The value shot.

The detail shot.