Still Pond

"Still Pond" (pastel over watercolor, 6x8 inches)  click here to bid

Sunday we had a fabulous day en plein aire at the Apache Pass, which aside from being the location of a great new restaurant (almost open) and Icehouse (already open), includes acres of land along the San Gabriel River and the El Camino Real National Historical Trail.

This is a quick view of the river just yards down from the actual Apache Pass, the gravel bar crossing on the river that was used for centuries by Native American Indians, then by explorers and settlers, and now by local ranchers and farmers. The crossing was supplemented by an iron bridge built in 1912, which exists right above my scene, but using artistic license I decided to leave it out of this small painting. The river is quite low right now, which allowed us to stand virtually in what would normally be the riverbed.

Tomorrow I'll post my last painting from the weekend, a view farther downriver which I did from standing on the old bridge.

Here's the "Still Pond" progress:
 

 I was moving right along with the underpainting before I remembered to have someone take some shots...

 

 The pastel was quite minimal on this one... just enough to get the feel for the scene:

 See the old iron bridge? I painted from that vantage after lunch!

And here's my lovely group of ladies! What a fun-filled weekend we had!

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