Santa Monica Cityscape

8x10 watercolor with pastel on paper. Ok, no charcoal in this one! I love these colors. I am always drawn to Prussian Blue and other "blue greens" - I am not a primary blue person, though I use Cobalt Blue on occasion. I also like to use a violet blue, which is what you'll see in the "sky" of this work .I wanted this piece to have a fun, happy feel to it. Hope you like it.

Futura City Seven by Carol Engles

10x14 watercolor with pastel and charcoal. This has some wild chartreuse in it, huh? I don't know if it is a "future" color or not. I love chartreuse. I love the French name, too!

Violet Marsh Two

5x7 acrylic with pastel. Here's another "Violet Marsh". I am having fun working with acrylic and pastel. I am going do large pieces from this series, too. I really like violet with gold brown and chartreuse. I find that putting color in unexpected places, makes for a more interesting painting. I like to add a splash of red or orange to catch your eye as well. This series has the predictable blue for the sky and the gold brown trees, but the violet is not what you would expect to see in a marsh!

Windy Desert Two

10x14 watercolor with pastel and charcoal. Once again, I have to do another desert landscape. I hope you like it. I did this very fast with a loose sketchy style. I let the white of the paper show through for some more contrast.

Blue Violet Corner

8x10 watercolor with pastel. Violet and blue can be very calming. But, they get jazzed up a bit when you add red, yellow and bright green, don't you think?

Violet Marsh One

5x7 acrylic with pastel on paper. I told you that I would be doing more with acrylic. I am having fun with the acrylics as well as this color combination. Hope you like it! There are several of these. I am also planning to do larger pieces with this theme and colors. So stay tuned!

Windy Desert One

10x14 watercolor with pastel and charcoal. Stormy weather again today, so I had to post another "stormy" piece. Unfortunately, there is a serious threat of mudslides in the hills in the burn areas of Southern California. Hopefully, the barricades will hold!

Brown Canyon Two

10x14 watercolor with pastel and charcoal. Ok, another charcoal piece.... I am taking a break and I am doing some more acrylic work. But, I couldn't resist doing another canyon! Hope you enjoy it. I put some peach in this and had fun with the dots!

Blue and Charcoal One

10x14 watercolor with pastel and charcoal on paper. I really like the blues in this piece. My favorite blue is Prussian Blue. It has just a touch of green to it. I use it all the time! Can't help myself.

Charcoal Vista Five

10x14 watercolor with pastel and charcoal on paper. Lots of charcoal in this one! I am going to leave charcoal for a while and concentrate on some acrylic work. So stay tuned! Of course, I'll be back to the charcoal soon!

Brown Canyon Waterfall

10x14 watercolor with pastel and charcoal on paper. We went on a trail ride through a beautiful canyon last month which inspired this piece. (I know, while just about everyone else is snowbound, we are outside riding! I won't rub it in!) I am planning to do more of these "canyon" abstracts. Hope you enjoy it!

Black Bluff Vista

10x14 watercolor with pastel and charcoal on paper. I get the ideas for these abstract landscapes as I drive out to the barn or around the Temecula Valley. I could do these all the time! I do them very quickly - and hopefully you can see and feel the energy . You don't have to take all day or week to produce worthwhile or interesting art. Watercolor and drawing media, in particular, lend themselves to fast work. And sometime, fast work is more difficult because you don't have the opportunity to make a lot or corrections or work over your painting.

Pond's Edge

8x11 watercolor with pastel on paper. Happy New Year! I did this piece with "Spring Colors" in mind - even if it is the beginning of January. It was in the 70's today in Southern California, so that's why I am already thinking of Spring!