Here is “Dreamy California.”
![](https://www.artbycedar.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Dreamy-California-641x800.jpg)
It was inspired by one of my many photos taken while hiking in the redwood forests in California.
![](https://www.artbycedar.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Dreamy-California-4-Insta.jpg)
This oil painting has a very thick impasto texture painted mostly with palette knives. The shapes are roughly blocked in. Detail is minimal, with the focus on the glowing light and colors.
![](https://www.artbycedar.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Dreamy-California-detail-1-533x800.jpg)
The high contrast of black and white is dramatic, and the soft pastel tones are pleasing and warm.
![](https://www.artbycedar.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Dreamy-California-detail-4-533x800.jpg)
![](https://www.artbycedar.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Dreamy-California-detail-2-Insta.jpg)
The title is Dreamy California because it’s more about the feeling I associate with my time in California, and especially my time spent in these beautiful old growth forests, than it is about a specific location. It’s a land of sunshine and opportunity.
![](https://www.artbycedar.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Dreamy-California-detail-3-Insta.jpg)
The trees grow so tall out west, and there is such a pure quality to the sunlight.
![](https://www.artbycedar.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Dreamy-California-5-610x800.jpg)
In this painting, you can feel the soft warmth of that sun!
![](https://www.artbycedar.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Dreamy-California-3-Insta.jpg)