I was inspired to paint this scene because, after some spring rain, there were wild flowers everywhere in Southern California. Hillsides along freeways had beautiful displays of wild color. Near my home we had fields of yellow and purple flowers that lasted about a month before they faded. A lot of that dry bushery (not a word) stuff that looks like soon to be tumbleweed got deeply soaked and produced wild flowers and new color in unusual places. Dried brush and chapparel sprouted wild flowers that popped with color. In this painting I used thick paint and a palette knife to “cake” on the colorful folage. I wanted to create texture and the feeling of some of the plants. Some felt soft and billowy and others were brittle and dry. This oil painting has vibrant colors; mustards, browns, pinks, salomon, yellows, and many shades of green. It was a hazy or cloudy day so I kept the blue hill dark to suggest a cloud hovering over it. I noticed on cloudy days the ground colors look lusher as if the contrast of grey skies intensify the local color. This original oil painting has a slight suggestion of a walkway or trail though the flowers and traveling up the distant hillside. Keeping this oil painting loose, expressive, and impressionistic I chose to simplify the trees and foliage to their basic organic forms. The blues in the background hill have some of the sky color in it…so I added some light grey mauve, greens, and purple to it. It’s so amazing how a little rain water can turns a hillside into a glorious fiest for the eyes. I am hopeful that next years rains will bring many more luscious and juicy scenes to paint. This oil painting has a nice feeling of natures’ bounty.
24Jul
