Platanus racemosa
Platanus racemosa is a real giant among trees, often called California sycamore, western sycamore, California plane tree, or just aliso if you’re in North American Spanish. This tree is native to California and Baja California, hanging out in all sorts of wet spots like stream banks, canyons, floodplains, and around springs and seeps. It loves to chill along rivers and streams in various habitats.
Faced with the ticking clock of an impending art show deadline, I found my plein air portfolio unprepared—only one canvas in my studio fit the show requirements. I wanted at least one more entry, so, I went out to a nearby park and painted a California Sycamore. It was a nice sunny day, warming up to about 70. I painted for over 2 hrs, and the piece turned out pretty well. It won’t need much if any touchup in the studio! Below are a few moments of the day…
I used some artistic license in eliminating some of the tangle of smaller branches, and adorned the sycamore’s bare limbs with a cascade of imagined leaves for a fiercer interplay of light and shadow.
