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.

Zion Big Bend

Watercolor painting of Zion landscape by Janet Tarjan Erl.

Zion Big Bend

Medium: Watercolor, Image Size: 12″h x 16″w, 2015.

This watercolor was done from a scene I saw at Big Bend in Zion National Park. My husband Harry and I hiked many locations at Zion in the winter, and I was so impressed with the grandeur of the park that I did this painting to capture that feeling of awe that the park gives me. The incredible sizes of the rock cliffs are enormous compared to the full-grown Cottonwoods in the valley floor. Shadows are big and dark this time of year. I layered many transparent washes to build up the values and textures of the shaded rocks.

Painting Available

$950.00

This painting is UNFRAMED, with a single white matt and backing to fit in a 16″ x 20″ frame.

If you are interested in purchasing this painting, please contact us, and we can arrange for purchase.

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Additional images of artwork, matting, or framing.

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

Zion Faces

Watercolor painting of a Zion by Janet Tarjan Erl.

Zion Faces

Medium: Watercolor, Image Size: 13.5″h x 10.5″w, 2015.

The sheer cliffs of Zion National Park, Utah are so humbling and gorgeous. I painted this watercolor from a scene I saw on one of the trails that overlooked the Zion River below. The sun was getting ready to set so it cast long shadows on the massive cliffs.

Painting Available

$700.00

This painting is UNFRAMED, with a double matt, top white mat, brown second matt, and backing, to fit in a standard 16″ x 20″ frame.

If you are interested in purchasing this painting, please contact us, and we can arrange for purchase.

Gallery inquires welcome. 

Please include title of artwork in contact.

Click Here to Contact Us. 

Additional images of artwork, matting, or framing.

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