East of Fresno, California there are many, many orange orchards. What I found fascinating is that the farmers trim the trees flat on all sides. I’m sure there is a reason for that but it’s an interesting landscape to see cubes of trees as far as the eye can see. Well, almost as far.
What is stunning in Winter is the deep blue sky and the snow capped mountains.
The two together makes for a curious fantastic view of Winter in California as I have illustrated below.
California Winter, watercolor 14″ x 10″, Arches 140 lb
I took this concept and made larger painting with a different look. Which one is your favorite?
Watercolor painting of converging orange orchard rows to focal point at base of snow capped mountains.
20″ x 25″ watercolor on paper. Landscape piece illustrates the rows in orchards of oranges ready for shipping back east before Christmas over the snow capped Sierra Mountains in the background. Framed painting is strong on perspective drawing the viewer into the scene.
With so many beautiful possibilities and a limited time budget, how do I plan this trip? First, it was clear that I should work from south to north so that I was working the warmest state in the coldest months. Second, I want to see alpine wildflowers in Oregon. That locked in the middle months of March, April, and May for Oregon. Allowing three months per state put Washington complete in August.
The choice between coast and crest has a lot to do with the weather. I was able to see Mt Laguna east of San Diego because of zero snow and temps no lower than 30° F. We have had El Nina weather in Los Angeles area which means rain in December. That also means snow in the mountains. It’s easy to see that happening with weather radar and snow coverage apps on you smartphone.
While I would like to see Mt Whitney, the highest point in the lower 48 states, the temperature and road conditions prevent me. I’m working the coast in California from Point Conception north until a January thaw happens.
Snowing on the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range
The remainder of my planning is done with paper state maps, Google Maps, and AllTrails app. The AllTrails app as well as Google Maps will show me terrestrial photographs of the area. I was surprised to learn that Google even shot Streetview images along the beaches I’m looking for structure of the topography, interesting geology, lighthouses, wildflowers, and natural scenery without man’s improvement (wilderness).
Scene choices take into consideration my personal watercolor painting goals:
The early morning view from Mt Laguna is inspiring. Light bends at the horizon to create prismatic colors orange, green, and blue. The blue of the sky becomes deeper further up into the atmosphere. Having telescopes there makes sense because of the dark skies far from city lights.
Mt Laguna is a favorite winter play spot for people from San Diego just an hour west by car. The altitude makes for colder nights and sometimes snow. The air is dry and clear so it is easy to see for a long distance. From this height and direction you can see Arizona and Mexico.
My painting is a studio painting because the light was changing fast. I wanted to include the telescope / Observatory to create interest in the composition. Also a nod to my father who built motor drives for telescopes at Kitt Peak and Mt Lemon in Tucson where I grew up. He worked for the University of Arizona but moved to Tucson after the Navy in San Diego. He may have spent some time at Mt Laguna Observatory.
Here’ the layout and the painting.
Layout of Values and Color NotesMt Laguna Observatory watercolor painting
If you have Google Earth installed on your computer, you can visit this location at https://earth.app.goo.gl/?apn=com.google.earth&isi=293622097&ius=googleearth&link=https%3a%2f%2fearth.google.com%2fweb%2f%4032.84441267,-116.44367935,2045.45556288a,0d,35y,102.33302563h,88.75721883t,0r The red line is the Pacific Crest Trail. The Peak is Mt Laguna.
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