Mt. Shasta Azalea Graphic

Garment illustration by Janet Tarjan Erl

Mt. Shasta Azalea Graphic

Medium: Watercolor, Digital Photoshop, Image Size: 20”h x 17″w, 2022.

I created this colorful, funky, digital, graphic painting of a wild Azalea flower set against the backdrop of Mt. Shasta in California. This artwork was derived from a design I did for the Mt. Shasta Run/Walk T-shirt design for 1997. I digitally repainted the original design which was originally painted in watercolor. I also enhanced this new design with a decorative, funky border.

Painted in watercolor. Scanned into the computer and floated. Painting, graphics, colors, effects, and text were done in Photoshop.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

Yosemite Half Dome

Garment illustration by Janet Tarjan Erl

Yosemite Half Dome

Medium: Watercolor, Digital/Photoshop, Image Size: 15”h x 20″w, T-shirt Image Size: 12″h x 16″w 2001.

This design was created as an apparel design for T-shirts for the Yosemite National Park. The incredible sheer, vertical cliffs are awe inspiring. This artwork depicts Yosemite National Park’s popular attraction – Half Dome – a sheer granite wall of impressive size that was carved by massive glaciers.

Included in the artwork are a flying eagle, a perched eagle, a bear, and a Great horned owl; but there are five other hidden animals. Try to find all the hidden frog, turtle, wolf, gray jay, and lizard.

Painted in watercolor. Scanned into the computer and floated. Digital painting and enhancements, graphics, colors, effects, and text were done in Photoshop.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

Mt. Shasta and Wild Blue Flax

Illustration by Janet Tarjan Erl

Mt. Shasta and Wild Blue Flax

Medium: Digital Photoshop, Image Size: 14”h x 21″w, T-shirt Image Size: 8″h x 12″w, 2010.

I created this colorful and beautiful digital painting of a wild Blue Flax flower set against the backdrop of Lake Siskiyou and Mt. Shasta in California. This artwork was derived from a design I did that I entered into the Mt. Shasta Run/Walk T-shirt contest. I didn’t win the competition that year.

Sketched in pencil. Scanned into the computer and floated. Painting, graphics, colors, effects, and text were done in Photoshop.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

Mt. Shasta Lake Siskiyou

Garment illustration by Janet Tarjan Erl

Mt. Shasta Lake Siskiyou

Medium: Watercolor, Digital/Photoshop, Image Size: 11”h x 21″w, T-shirt Image Size: 9″h x 15″w 1998.

This design was created as an apparel design for T-shirts. I did the design from a painting I had done of Mt. Shasta as it is seen from Lake Siskiyou. The lake has an awesome trail that encompasses the lake.

Painted in watercolor. Scanned into the computer and floated. Digital painting and enhancements, graphics, colors, effects, and text were done in Photoshop.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

Mumford Bar North Fork American River

Watercolor landscape painting of river and rocks by Janet Tarjan Erl.

Mumford Bar North Fork American River

Medium: Watercolor, Image Size: 23.5”h x 17.5”w, 2009.

This scene depicts a clear, deep pool of the North Fork of the American River at Mumford Bar. I wanted to do this painting because I love the deep luscious pools and the sculpted, polished, and weathered rocks of the river canyon. This area had been a historic gold miners camp from the gold rush days of the 49ers, so when you hike around the river’s edge, you come across old mining equipment and tunnels. It’s a wonderful place to swim in the hot summers of the Sierra Nevada mountains of northern California, but it’s a fairly long and steep hike out of the canyon, so you get heated up by the time you’ve hiked out. The deep clear waters of the American River and all its forks and tributaries are the places I grew up around and explored as a kid and young adult.

The focal point of the painting is the middle ground rocks, but they are equally offset by the deep emerald water – an offset focal point. You see the water first because it is so strong, but the diagonal line of the water/rock boundary leads you from the upper left to the lower right, then around to the rocks. The rocks are angular, sculptural, strong, and they make a stark contrast to the smooth, blended, and peaceful water. It’s a yin and yang, black and white, can’t have one without the other sort of focal point.

The biggest problem I encountered with doing the artwork was in doing the river. I worked wet in wet and really saturated the paper with lots of pigments to get the emerald and cerulean colors to stand out. The submerged rocks were tricky to get the right value, so I had to work fast enough so that they worked in while wet. I pulled a little color out of some of those rock areas while wet too.

I used Arches 140 lb. cold press watercolor paper which I stretched while wet so that I had a flat surface to work with while doing the wet in wet washes.

This painting was juried into the National Watercolor Society 89th Annual Exhibition, 2009, La Brea, California, the Northwest Watercolor Society 2010 70th Annual Open Exhibition, Seattle WA., and the Watercolor Society of Oregon 45th Annual Transparent Watercolor Exhibition 2010, Salem, Oregon, (2nd Place, People’s Choice Award, & Statewide Touring Exhibit).

Original is sold.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

Autumn Vineyard

Oil painting of a vineyard by Janet Tarjan Erl.

Autumn Vineyard

Medium: Oil, Image Size: 9”h x 12”w, 2017.

I was commissioned by the Charles Spinetta Winery in Plymouth, California to do some paintings of their Vineyard. This little oil shows the grape plants in golden and orange shades of color. Some of the plants have dropped all their leaves. I saw this lovely scene just after a storm, so the clouds were still lingering and casting shadows across the vineyard. The rows of grapes nicely curved along the contour of the land and showed the shape of the rolling hills.

Original is sold.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

Shasta River Autumn

Watercolor landscape painting Shasta River in autumn by Janet Tarjan Erl.

Shasta River Autumn

Medium: Watercolor, Image Size: 12″h x16″w, 2008.

Many autumns ago, I got up early to go photograph this scene of the Shasta River just north of Yreka, California. I hoped the oak trees would be in full autumn colors, and I wasn’t disappointed. The golden rolling hills and the curving river were nicely punctuated by the vibrant trees. It was a beautiful setting for this painting.

Original is sold.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

Royal Gorge

Watercolor landscape painting of Royal Gorge in California by Janet Tarjan Erl.

Royal Gorge

Medium: Watercolor, Image Size: 28″h x 22″w, Watercolor, 1986.

I painted this beautiful waterfall on location in the Royal Gorge of the North Fork of the American River in Northern California. My husband and I backpacked into the gorge and camped near these falls. This took two weeks to paint, so we enjoyed the solitude of being in this magnificent canyon during that time. These falls are just downstream of where Palisade Creek empties into the Royal Gorge. This section of river has gorgeous, deep pools; carved and sculpted granite; and numerous giant waterfalls.

This back-country trip inspired me to write a feature article for American Artist magazine, Painting in the Back Country – A Guide to Streamlining Your Art Gear, American Artist, October 1988.

Original is sold.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

Frolic in the Meadow

Watercolor painting of horses in mountain meadow by Janet Tarjan Erl.

Frolic in the Meadow

Medium: Watercolor/Gouache, Image Size: 16”h x 21.75”w, 1998.

This setting for this painting was at East Boulder Lake in the Trinity Alps Wilderness, Siskiyou County, California. It was one of our favorite lakes to hike to in the summer. I painted this herd of spirited horses in the surrounding meadow because it looked like a good mountain meadow setting for horses.

Original is sold.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

View From Greenhorn Ridge

Watercolor landscape painting Greenhorn Ridge Yreka California by Janet Tarjan Erl.

View From Greenhorn Ridge

Medium: Watercolor, Image Size: 8.5″h x 11.75″w, 1988.

This view of Mt. Shasta and the Shasta Valley was during the drought of 1988 as seen from Greenhorn Ridge above Yreka, California. Very little snow was left on Mt. Shasta that year. This was the very early days of the droughts that are now common.

Original is sold.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.