Monday, April 07, 2008

Painting Portugese Bend


OK.....actually painting the wild mustard at Portugese Bend...which is an area of the Palos Verdes peninsula which is the boot looking piece of land just south of Los Angeles along the coast. It's a beautiful area that I have driven through many times. I was recently invited by friend and fellow painter Bruce, (boomerbeach), from WC to go do some plein air painting and catch the wild mustard in full bloom before it's gone. The mustard here grows to 6 feet tall and some of the areas we walked you were hidden in the mustard. We had a great time.

By the time I had gotten there a lot of painters, including Bruce and Bill Wray, were already out painting. We had about 10 painters show up. I ran into Bill when finishing my painting as he stalked out killer reference shots with his camera. I saw Bruce later at dinner. This was not an offical plein air painting deal, just a group of people getting together to paint and have dinner later. Here are some pics from the day.


The view to the top of the peninsula Mustard abounds....


Me, working it up on the 9"x12" panel. This was a great spot. The field in from of me used to be a bean field way back in the 40's.


Walk to the edge of the bean field and this would be your view down onto the Pacific Ocean. Is this place awesome or what!

That's me, all finished up with my painting. I have done 2 other paintings in the studio with mustard fields and used a brush to do the mustard. On this one I decided to see what using a knife would look like. That decision was brought on by me rubbing on a tinted ground that didn't quite dry and I was worried painting in the mustard would blend too much with the undercoated paint. I think I prefer the brush method though....next time, no tinted ground.

This is where I chose to paint...right off the road next to the beanfield. Took lots of reference shots so I'll be doing more paintings from this area. The cliffs down along the beach are totally awesome and I plan on returning to do some PA work there once I get painting cliffs down to a science...hahaha.




the finished painting.....needs a brush for that mustard!
and a detail shot.....

7 comments:

LUCIANO FIGUEIREDO said...

Hi Ron,
I learn a lot from your blog. Specially when you show all the steps of your painting. Is great!
Congratulations for your work.
Best wishes,
Luciano Figueiredo

Ron Guthrie said...

Hi Luciano,
Good to hear from you old friend. Hope your painting is going well. Spring is bringing some great new chances for good paintings. Best wishes!

maggiestacyk said...

Hi Ron,

I was searching the internet trying to find some info. on what colors to mix (in oil) to get distant blue mountains when I came across your site. Wow, what a find!!! Your paintings are absolutely beautiful!!!!!! Any suggestion on what colors to use in painting distant blue mountains?

My brother & sister-in-law live in Solvang (small world!). They're names are Chuck & Shirley Stacy (he just retired from being Rector of the Episcopal Church in Los Olivos). I'll definitely send them the link to your site.

Keep up the fantastic work ... you're definitely an inspiration for me!

Maggie Stacy Kinstle

Ron Guthrie said...

Hi Maggie,
I do my mountains using titanium white with a bit of ultramarine blue and even less of a dab of alizarin crimson just to lower the intensity of the blue.
On some scenes I've added yellow ochre to highlight distant dry grasses on the mountains....mix a little white to that for distant rock highlights.

I drive by that church all the time because I show in Los Olivos. I think they are building on to it right now. Nice place. I'm positive I know someone who knows them...it is a small town here.

Glad you found the site Maggie. If you have a website or blog leave your link next time so I can see your work.
Take Care,
Ron

Anonymous said...

Hi, I came across your blog address while scrolling through Wet Canvas. I really like your plein air work - those mustard fields are great. Great site! Carey

maggiestacyk said...

Hi Ron,

Wow, what a beautiful painting!!! I spent some of my childhood in the Salinas Valley (King City) and the wild mustard brings back a lot of fond memories. I want to thank you so much for turning me onto wetcanvas.com. I actually did my first live chat the other night and everyone was so helpful. I am now signed up with examples of daily paintings which are e-mailed to me. This is a great way to really get totally into one's art.

Thanks again for sharing your insights and beautiful paintings!

Maggie

Ron Guthrie said...

Hi Carey - Thanks for taking a look and taking the time to post. Stop by anytime.

Hi Maggie - See...I told you that you'd love it. There are so many people willing to share there so it is a great place to learn and have fun sharing your work.
ENJOY!