Lupine

Lupine

9 x 12 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

When I was small, the lupine were all over this area. This year, there were few healthy plants among the poppies and goldfields. So few, in fact, that people created areas off the paths near the plants to take photos. In doing this, they killed every other living thing surrounding the lupine. This painting shows an area where this happened. It worked out well for me so that I could showcase the lupine, but it is not so great in the long run.

As I look at this photo of the painting, I can see a couple of things I need to address. The shadow area to the right of the lupine needs to be gone, but I need to add the cast shadow area to the left of the plant. Sometimes, in the morning, I don't see these things right away. I will fix this tomorrow, but I don't think I will re-post this. Just try and imagine it.

Overall, I am very happy with this painting. It really expresses what I was seeing and feeling at the moment. I was on a high trail to the east of yesterday's viewpoint. The path you can see is the one my sister-in-law and I walked on Sunday morning. If you followed that path around to the other side of the closest butte, you would come to the bridge from yesterday's painting. The mountains in the background are part of the Tehachapi Range. The buttes are part of the Antelope Buttes area.
Once again, I relied on Terry Ludwig pastels for this painting for the most part. The greens are Great Americans. I really like working with both these brands. I love the square sticks. I have much more success with this shape for all the different kinds of strokes I use. I am so happy that Great American has gone to the square format.

Tomorrow, I will work on a view from the poppy fields to the farmland and mountains to the south of the park. The west part of the Antelope Valley was filled with alfalfa farms when I was growing up. Most of them are long gone now. I was glad to see at least one left.