Hermosa Beach Greenbelt, 2026 by Ray Patrick — original gouache painting — 2026.077.006

Subject

A eucalyptus standing alone beside a greenbelt path, with a second smaller tree to the right, low hills behind, and two or three small figures walking at its foot.

Composition

The tree is placed almost centrally and runs nearly the full height — unusual on this wall, where the subject is normally pushed to an edge. The path cuts across the bottom on a shallow diagonal and the figures give the scale.

Palette

Blue throughout: periwinkle, steel and slate in the sky, with the foliage in blue-green and the shadows violet. The only relief is a thin band of warm sand at the path and a touch of ochre at the base of the second tree.

Handling

The canopy is built from flat dabs laid with gaps between them, so the sky reads through the leaves rather than behind them. The trunk and branches are drawn last in single thin strokes, dark over light.

Medium and support

Gouache on paper. Matte and opaque, the sky worked in overlapping passes that leave their own edges. Unpainted margins at the top and right.

Signature

Lower left, raypatrick, in dark violet over the path, letters touching.

From the artist:

There is a green belt that runs for miles parallel to the coastline in the south bay of LA. The green belt is a trail filled with trees, foliage and wood chips that people run on, walk their dogs, and walk. It is an enchanting corridor. This grand eucalyptus towered just behind the shopping center near my house.