Sacramento Valley

 For the last project of the winter session of my painting class, we painted this goldfinch. The week before, Ron had told us that we would be painting a pelican, and I think everyone was a little disappointed when they arrived and found that he had changed his mind about the bird. This painting caused me more trouble than any in a long time. With the bird and the flowers masked, we painted the background wet-on-wet with mostly greens. I wanted my background to be fairly dark to make the bird stand out more, but I just could not get a smooth dark green without lots of visible brush stokes and splotches. I tried scrubbing it off and starting over. I tried starting the whole thing over on a fresh piece of paper. After about four tries, and still not very satisfied, I gave up and finished the bird and the flowers which were relatively easy to do. I guess one of these days I should waste a few sheets of paper and try to learn how to do smooth dark backgrounds.

I still had a couple of ideas for paintings from the photos that I took on our weekend at the Snow Goose Festival in Chico. I wanted to focus a bit more on the landscape of the Sacramento Valley rather than the birds, the long-distant views and wide open spaces, and the funky little towns. This painting is based on a photo from the bird viewing platform on 7 Mile Road in Rancho Llano Seco, a very large area of protected land in the middle of the valley. During the winter, much of the valley is flooded rice fields, which makes it a great place for ducks and geese. In the distance, the Sutter Buttes rise as an isolated volcanic formation in the middle of the flat valley floor.

There are many little towns scattered around the valley. Most of them are rather sad looking with abandoned businesses and a few old homes. I think they once served communities of family farms, but large corporate farms have made them obsolete. This painting is Butte City, and there is not much more to the town than what you see here. I found the sign on the store amusing, and I had to stop for a photo. I guess it wouldn't be so funny if I were a duck hunter. When I was a boy, my grandma had me pluck a chicken for her, and I imagine that plucking a duck would be a similarly tedious job. Duck hunting is still a popular activity in the valley, and through the day we heard lots of gunshots across the fields.