Texture of the Cemetery

I drove all the way to the top of the Cemetery looking for people visiting the grave sites. I passed the Greek Orthodox area and found the graves with flat markers. People kept driving up to get out and place flowers. I decided to work with a lot of texture because I had been thinking about texture for a demonstration I did. I needed to work on the figures more but numerous insect bites forced me to leave and I worked on it in the studio. I will work on it some more I think. Karen

El Cementerio de Mountain View

Last week, as Annette and I walked up a hill on Mountain View cemetery, I kept looking all around me for something to paint on a 15 x 20" canvas. There was a lot to choose from. Then I walked to the edge of the road and peeked under the canopies, and there it was, a most interesting, sweeping view of the hills that seemed to spread from the fountain. I instantly fell in love with the bright-green, well manicured grounds, a rare sight in drought-stricken northern California. The trees changing color were beautiful, but so was the glow of the bright green grass and the indirect blue light filtering from above, but what really attracted me was the rows of tombstones that seemed to have their own pattern and thus their own (visual) music. So I committed to this painting, which took me two Saturdays to complete. Rebeca

Mountain View Cemetery: Matthew's Monument

There were so many interesting monuments I had trouble narrowing down the image to something manageable. I found a shady side of a large tomb and focused on the tall column. At first I thought it was a figure at the top. I saw it from the right side of this view, then I saw the urn with the drape hanging. Interesting, I don't know what that means exactly in cemetery symbolism. The sky was quite different, very light with clouds and there were some drifting gray clouds at an angel floating by. When I tried to paint them, they sort of mushed together. I guess the paper was still too wet from the sky painting. The color of the column was unusual too, I guess its some kind of red/pink marble. There were a lot more memorial stones that I left out. But the composition didn't need them. I have been using a smaller brush for the trees lately and I like it. Its a # 7 Rafael Kolinsky Sable. It seems to work better than the #9 that I was using, especially for the background trees. I used a 1" flat sable for the sky and underpainting for some of the trees and foreground. I wet the paper first for the sky because it looked so liquid. I was careful not to paint in the column or the light areas in the foreground.

Larry Hatfield

Mountain View Cemetery - October 10, 2009

Last Saturday was sunny and bright in Oakland. I was early for the paint out with East Bay Plein Air so I high-tailed it to the road up on the hill above Millionaire's Row at Mountain View Cemetery.




This is not exactly the view I had for my first painting (I was a little further down the road just in back of the statued monument - with a peek of the domed Oakland Columbarium through the trees. I left out the buildings in the background in the painting below.

Mountain View Cemetery (9"x12"pastel on black paper) - Artist Janice L-H


I did rework this when I got home, darkening the liquid amber trees and highlighting the statue above the monument for emphasis.
There is a slight glare on the photo from the right but you can see what it used to look like here.

Once the group arrived I met them at the last fountain where we split up to paint. I had glimpsed one of my favorite statues on the way down the hill but got turned around going to the meeting place. Anyhow I saw the Veteran's Area where I think I will go next time to work up some of those great magnolia trees located there.

Finally finding the Angel at the end of the curve in front of a row of ornamental plum trees, I went to work.




Reclining Angel (12"x 18" pastel on black paper) - Artist Janice L-H

Yes, I did rework this once I was home (I hope I'm not actually messing them up!) and you can see the original rendition here. I toned down the monuments, tree shadows and the sky and added some contour to the plum trees.


Can't wait to return tomorrow! Janice