Half Dome

Half Dome
Spring at Cook's Meadow
16" x 20"
[click on image to enlarge]

In late spring Yosemite starts to thaw out. Snow vanishes from the valley turning the streams into silt laden water with their highest flow.
The colorful new growth has more yellow than will be evident late in the summer.
This time I returned to a view of Half Dome in the more traditional 'landscape' canvas. This allowed room for more deciduous growth and the inclusion of the wonderful quaking aspen on the right.
The day after I finished it, I was studying a painting in the Sacramento Temple and noticed a redbud prominently featured, so I was doubly happy with my choice.
The redbud is also positioned to stop the eye as it follows the stream to the left. So the eye can stop there rather than following the stream off the canvas, and then move up into the scene.
It is a 'spring' scene however it is a struggle to avoid getting too much plain, strong green in the painting.
Lastly the small, orange foreground flowers are probably Tufted Poppies which grow in this valley rather than the nearly identical California Poppies.

Half Dome from Cooks Meadow

Half Dome from Cooks Meadow
16 x 20
Of course the family has shared time here. This approach was inspired by a David Muench photograph that became a Sunset magazine cover a few years ago. He had found a location where he could photograph autumn leaves from beneath and still have Half Dome be the center of focus.
I may revisit this and try painting it as a springtime version
[Incidentally the sky in the upper right does not have vertical streaks, again a photographic anomaly]

Bald Eagle
12 x 16
This came about in an interesting fashion. I am considering painting a Maine landscape [where I hope to visit again this summer]. The scene needs something in the upper left, so I was considering putting a bird there. Looking for a suitable bird I found this eagle and decided to paint him alone rather than a small portion of a larger work.
For a basically black and white bird he has a surprisingly large amount of detail. Incidentally there is no pure black on this eagle

Afternoon Tea
12 x 16
This was planned as an 11 x 14 canvas - which I had on hand. When I drew the preliminary, it didn't fit well. So instead of reducing it, I picked up a slightly larger canvas.
When I photographed it, I noticed that the shadows were not quite right, so it had to be reworked.
As you may notice, I like painting lemons.