Aspen Grove Design

Here is a example where the notan dominates over other aspects of painting. This enforces the sense of linearity and flat planes of color to achieve a strong design. Watercolor Canson 140lb. paper.

Aspen Grove in Sunlight

About a Lake

A painting with strong horizontal planes design. Gouache on Richeson watercolor paper.

"The Boats and the Lake."

Winter Landscape in Oil

"Snow and Mountains." Small oil painting on board-mounted canvas. 8x10 in. By Carlos Herrera.

Snow and Mountains.

About a Sheep

Here is a painting with a story. Gouache on watercolor 140lb paper.

One, One Only

Color Fields and values

Gouache study on watercolor paper. 9x12 in. The key to rendering correctly this kind of light is carefully establishing the right values.

Crispy Cold Sunlight.

Creek by the Ranch

Gouache on mixed-media 90lb paper.

Behind the Barn

In the Style of the Romantic Landscape Movement

According to Peter Barnett's Blog, the Romantic movement in fine arts includes:

" [the] romantic landscape [which] covers the gamut between the Pastoral - inhabited landscape: comfortable and relatively tame, with shepherds and peasants - and the Sublime - wild nature: vast and powerful, inspiring terror and awe.

    The Sublime is wonderfully represented by Cole and Bierstadt. [Albert] Bierstadt in particular, in a generation when the West was opening up to travel, sums up supremely well the new attitude of appreciation for the vast, untamable reaches of the wilderness. His landscapes are a veritable definition of the sublime in nature."


Here is an example of the Romantic Sublime style in watercolor on mixed-media paper. Artist Carlos Herrera.

"When the Earth Was New."

A Cityscape Painting

"At Dawn by the Old Canal". A watercolor and gouache cityscape on Canson watercolor paper. Artist, Carlos Herrera.

Dawn by the Old Canal

Dealing with Complexity

Forest scenes are usually full of wonderful details; not surprisingly its easy to overwork the painting. In this case, the saying "less is more" is most appropriate. Gouache on 140 lb. watercolor paper.

Forest Late Afternoon

Landscape Art

Here is an example of a simplified design to enhance the composition and the color fields that recreate the sunlight bathing the scene. Careful attention to the relative values is absolutely essential to get the correct 'reading' of  sunlight.

"California Backroad". Gouache on watercolor paper.

Controlling the Values in a Painting

In paintings like the one below, it is essential to plan the value range of the scene in order to recreate the striking contrast of light.

A Place in Northern Spain