Plein Air Southern California Landscape Paintings by Marian Fortunati

Satwiwa Rock Study © Marian Fortunati 8" x 6" Oil on Canvas

It was a busy week.   Tyler was off on spring break and my husband was out of town until the end of the week.  All of Tyler's friends seemed to be out of town too, so he was pretty much stuck with me.  The trouble is, he really doesn't want to join me when I paint and there were many prescheduled art-related events happening during the week.   I had committed to them before I realized that my husband was going out of town. 

I had a regular class on Monday, paintings to deliver to different locations on Tuesday and on Wednesday, and a paint-out on Wednesday.   Happily, Wednesday's drop-off location was on the way to where the monthly California Art Club paint out was scheduled -- Rancho Sierra Vista State Park or Satwiwa.    Since Tyler didn't want to join me, I arranged for him to go to "work" with my son, Jon-Paul, who owns a Paintball Store, Critical Paintball.  Tyler loves helping out and being with his uncle and all of the cool paintball guys.

Thursday was Tyler's birthday and we were going to go to Universal Studios to enjoy the day.  

So I had my ducks in a row... Tyler was looking forward to his first day at the shop and I was looking forward to my class.  I never know until Sunday evening where we will be painting... inside or outside... or what location if outside.  When I got the email saying that we would be meeting at Satwiwa, all I could say was ".................REALLY?".  
------It looked like it would be a Satwiwa week.

Satwiwa Hillside © Marian Fortunati 8" x 10" Oil on Linen

When I woke up on Monday, I saw that it was overcast and drizzling.  I was afraid it would be pretty awful painting, but it turned out to be fun.  ---  QUITE cold but fun.    The rain that wet my windshield on the way there simply dampened us but didn't wet us.  We all decided to stay and paint from the parking lot area.  I was trying to continue exploring the idea of painting grasses and bushes.   I ended up painting two small paintings.   As I said... I had fun...    I tried to concentrate on composition and values.   I don't think the paintings were anything special, but every painting is a bit of exploration and learning, so I guess it was a good thing.

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