The Arroyo Seco

"Fading Light At The Arroyo"

18" X 24" Oil on Canvas

A while back I was shooting reference photos in the Arroyo, the riverbed that runs from Pasadena down into Los Angeles close to Dodger Stadium. One of the scenes I caught was the fading light leaving the arroyo in shadow but the trees high up on the edge of the arroyo walls still lit up. I like that sort of stuff, haha. I decided to paint this one trying to capture that light. I like the lack of direct light and it's effect on the greens and dried grasses in this scene. Some slight bit of light giving the hillside scrub a hazy look...fun stuff to work with.   

California High Desert

"California High Desert"

24" X 36" Oil on Canvas

You know....I've kept from posting this image for about a week. The problem is I just cannot get a decent pic of the painting and it has been driving me crazy. I've used 2 different cameras and tried every setting I could think of. The painting looks pretty good here on the easel but some of the colors here in the photo are just reading a bit too intense. The yellows on the sage bush in the foreground have too much contrast in relation to the rest of the plant. On the easel the contrast of greens/yellows are more subdued and the greens of the sage brush are a bit better milky-green looking. I don't know if it is a Nikon thing or not...yellows come screaming through both of these cameras....and yes, I've tried all of my photoshop tricks to fix it all but I'm tired of messing with it so I'm just going to post what I felt was a bearable photo of the painting. Sometimes some paintings just don't do well in a photo but look fine in a real life setting....this is the king of those types, hahaha.     

BINLADEN DEAD AT LAST!

Just a quick note...we've just heard Binladen has been killed by American Forces.....YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Savanna May

"Savanna May"

16" X 20" Oil on Canvas

Painting & Pencils

" Savanna May", 16X20, is coming along nicely despite the pencil line fun

A few years ago I asked an artist friend of mine if he used a pencil to do his initial sketch on his awesome portrait works. You'd think I had asked him if he enjoyed using dog food when making meatloaf. That guy hates the idea of using a pencil for sketching prior to painting. Comes from experience. If you use a pencil many times the pencil lines will show up through the paint....especially the lighter areas of your painting. This is the normal look when using watercolors but you don't see it so much in oil painting.

I have used pencil to do my sketching for landscape work which is fine because I hardly sketch much at all when doing landscapes. Usually the line of the mountain tops is the only problem area I have with the pencil showing through so I just scrub it lightly with the brush and it goes away. Other times I will wipe that line down with turpentine...just enough to leave just a trace of it but the paint covers it no problem. And of course, a lot of times I do the sketching with a small liner brush using a wash of turps and yellow orchre...that method works the best. The problem is I sketch a lot due to the to the detail when painting marine scenes. I can't paint a marine scene over a loose sketch. I have to have the drawing pretty exact before I paint. For a marine sketch I go back to using a pencil simply for the control I have with it. Besides....it is easier and faster to erase a pencil line than it is to go back and wipe out a line when using paint. With pencil though you have tons of line work to cover with paint. I've been thinking about maybe trying to do my initial sketch with a light grey marker pen. Tombo & Prismacolor both make markers with various greys. I'd think a 10% cool grey would probably work great for this and the oil paint should easily color this.

Some of the pencil lines still showing through in this detail shot of the painting...when the paint sets up I'll go back over them but it is tedious.

So, the next time I'm down in Pasadena I'll stop into the Blick art store and pickup a couple of these guys to try out.

Bandon Oregon Sailboat

"Shade In Bandon Oregon"

16"x20" Oil on Canvas

Ok, just finished up the sailboat in Bandon, Oregon today. Geeze this one took forever to finish. Too many distractions lately. This is why an artist needs a studio up in the hills. I'm happy with it but of course there are always things I wish I had done differently...like the boot stripe color. By the way... a boot stripe is the line of color (here a pale greenish blue) painted above the bottom paint (here a dark red). That boot stripe is actually the same color as the stripe just under the cap rail and gunnel (the deck edge). I made a slightly darker mix of it when painting the boot stripe but it blended too much with the still wet paint of the hull so it reads lighter now. Also, the bottom paint should have been a true red darkened down with ultramarine blue but I used alizarin crimson just because that is my normal operating red. In this painting I don't like the crimson. Most bottom paint red is a dull true red color. Also, there is that loose thing...hahaha.

Still, I think it works and now on to the next painting.

Current Work In Progress

I haven't been posting much lately but not because of not painting. I've finished off about 3 or 4 paintings but they were versions based on a particular painting and I don't want to post 5 similar paintings on here. Also...the normal things that life brings, family and winter storm damage has kept me busy too. Winter storms bring not only bring rain but high winds which knock branches, and at times, trees down. We also have our usual bout of water getting into the barn and workshop so it can get really busy around here with back to back storms.

Bandon WIP...working title

So anyway....this is a painting I'm working on right now. Figured I needed to post something. This scene is from the coastal town of Bandon, Oregon. I passed through it on my way back from Coos Bay last year. Beautiful small town with great fish and chips, crab, quaint little shops and nice marina and waterfront. I haven't painted hardly any sailboats so I thought this one being worked on would do. Hard to not love the lines of a sailboat even if you are a powerboat person. I should have this one finished in another day or two. This image isn't the greatest since it was taken with a diiferent camera...my normal camera had a dead battery and it's charging now. I'm trying to keep my edges soft but my marine work always has a totally different look than my landscape work. I'll go back in the end and try and soften up some more on it.

A Detail of the painting....

Well...back to the easel...I want to get everything painted in so I can get to the part of dialing it all in. This one is taking forever to do...usually the marine pieces always take days to do. It's all of that detail and line work. I'd like to paint them looser but that never happens with me. I think I'm just going to have to live with my work like that, at least for now.

Wildling Museum Demo

The Wildling Museum, Los Olivos, CA

As forecasted, rain Saturday and Sunday this weekend, the weekend of the demo I would do at the Wildling Museum in Los Olivos. Watching the weather channel we knew the rain was on it's way and the weatherman was right on the money.

When Linda and I arrived to set up it was dry still but overcast and cold. Needless to say very few people came to the event put on by all of the art venues in town with artists giving demonstrations at various locations. At the museum I would guess maybe 50 people came by but I think the cold kept them moving to take things in before heading for home. I met some nice people and a few of the other artists stopped by to talk. The rain came and I came away with a decent eucalyptus painting and went home a little wet and with some freezing hands and feet.

Brrrrrr! Doesn't look that cold huh...ya had to be there. I forgot to tell Linda to take the flash off so there is a bad glare here on the painting. One artist came by and turns out she lived in Hawaii at the same time that Linda lived there and her daughter went to the same school as Linda's daughter....small world. A photographer showing at the coffee shop came by and all 4 of us had a lot of laughs. It was nice to be out hanging with artist friends.

This is a better pic of the painting...pretty common subject with me lately, these eucalyptus trees, I'm messing with various color strategies. The sky doesn't show well here but it is this nice greenish blue blending into a light violet towards the bottom...too subtle to show good in this pic. I don't know what is up with my digital camera that has worked great for the last 4 years...might be time to get another one with more megapixels. That little camera (old faithful) gets good details of anything under 16x20 but it's just not taking good images of the larger paintings. This painting is an 18x24 so the details get blurred. Lots of distractions out there today and there are things I might change on this one but overall I'm pretty happy with how the painting came out. As for the day spent there, well, sometimes nature works with you and sometimes it doesn't. Despite the cold I think we all had a fun time of it.

Santa Ynez Valley Morning

"Valley Morning"

9" X 12" Oil on Canvas
Just a quick painting that I painted this morning while looking out of my backdoor and seeing this scene. It was a small section of the landscape visable and took about 1, 1/2 hours. I didn't have time to work on a larger piece since I need to get ready for the demo tomorrow at the Wildling Art Museum. Come on out, it's going to rain, thunder and probably be windy! hahaha. Why do a demo on a good day right? hahaha. I heard the forecasted rain for this weekend a few days ago but that's ok...the museum has a large wrap around porch and even it it got that ugly they offered a room inside...but I like it outside. We'll see what happens.

Figueroa Mountain Foothills

"Foothills Of The Figueroas"

12"x16" Oil on Canvas
This painting was started as more of a sketch to practice dialing in warm colored grasses but eventually worked it's way to a more completed painting. I also used this piece to experiment with atmosphere and depth wanting to get more of a "thickness" in the air across the valley. I didn't overly push that thickness in the air because I just wanted it to evident in the painting and not overbearing. My reference photo had a more crisp look to it since the air is so clean and clear up here so I added what's in the painting. I'm happy with the results and that's what is more important than the actual capturing of what was there in the photo.

Painting Demo - Los Olivos, CA

For any of you who live within driving distance to Los Olivos, CA (just above Santa Barbara), I will be doing a painting demo at the Wildling Art Museum. My demo will be part of the Artist And Easels day long show in the sleepy town of Los Olivos.
If you enjoy good wine, great art and a small town atmosphere then this is a good show for you. There will be many artists throughout the town giving demos.
My demo will be between 11 and 3 at the Wildling Art Museum. There is a great coffee shop next door so it can't get better than that! If you have some spare time please come by and have a fun day enjoying art.

Saturday, March 19, 11-3

The Wildling Art Museum... 2928 San Marcos Ave., Los Olivos, CA (805) 688-1082

Alla Prima Painting

"Misty Eucalyptus Trees"

12" X 16" Oil on Canvas
This painting was done alla prima tonight in about 2 hours. I wasn't really racing to finish it or paint alla prima to begin with...it just turned out to be an alla prima painting in a couple of hours which is always nice. I did this one more as a study than anything since I wanted to try out some different background color mixes for the sky. I made this sky with a mix of white, cerulean blue and a dab of cad yellow light added to that blue mix in the lower part of the sky. I wanted a greenish look to it because I wanted to paint the background trees with a slightly darker mix of that lower sky color. This always gives the painting a nice hazy, almost foggy look in the distance. I wish the green showed better here, it's a subtle mix as it rises into the cerulean upper sky and looks pretty cool when you're standing in front of it. Cerulean blue and cad yellow gives a really nice pale green but it requires very little cad yellow since that color is so intense.

Spring In California

"Spring In California"

24" X 30" Oil on Canvas
I painted this scene over a year ago on an 8"x10" canvas. The painting came out pretty nice so I entered it in a California Art Club show and it sold. I honestly didn't think it would sell and had planned on using the painting as a reference to paint a larger version. Luckily I had taken a good photo of it so the other day I got that out and used it as my ref. I went larger and also made some changes to the painting. The original had a lot of poppies in the foreground but the last few paintings I've done had poppies so I didn't want to paint those again. I like this version and think it is going to look very nice in a frame.

California Landscape Painting

"California Spring Landscape"

12" X 16" Oil on Canvas
We've had rain for the last two days which I imagine has given me the inspiration to finally finish up this painting. I had started it before the new year arrvied but lost the inspiration to give it a good finish due to other things going on. Eventually it sat leaned against a wall drying and making me feel guilty for not finishing it every time I saw it. With the rain here I decided it was as good a time as any to finish up. Now the only guilt I have is in letting it sit for so long driving me crazy. Some paintings are after your soul.
No specific location for this one, it is just a typical scene of what the area looks like along the central coast of California. Oaks dominate the landscape of rolling hillsides and in spring the wildflowers will carpet the grass lined valleys.

Nipomo Eucalyptus Tree

"The Sappling"

20" x 24" Oil on Canvas
Another scene up in the stand of eucalyptus trees in Nipomo, CA. I love this spot for getting great shots of eucalyptus trees and grassy meadows. If you've ever driven up the 101 fwy towards headed for San Luis Obispo then you've driven right past this stand of trees. Many of the migrant farm workers during the depression used these tree stands in Nipomo for shaded camps to live in. Dorothea Lange stopped in this area to take pictures of these workers as part of her work showing the conditions caused by the depression for the Farm Security Administration. When I walk among these trees I feel a deep reverence for the farm workers and families effected by the depression. To imagine people living in tents or lean to's and out of cars among these trees and in the heat of the day working in the nearby fields is a very humbling experience. It reminds you to never take for granted the lives we live because it all can be taken away like it was for so many back during the depression.

Life went on even during the depression and adversity as well as back breaking work is what got most people through it. During the depression my grandparents picked pecans in Texas and to help get by my grandpa broke horses. Once the horses were somewhat gentled he had my grandma get on the saddle first because she was lighter than him.

People, like trees, carry on in life. As time goes by they are replaced by the young. This sappling reminds me of that cycle...that life will go on despite the experiences, and sometimes ordeals, life will throw at us all.

Mojave Desert Light

"Mojave In Gold"

24" X 30" Oil on Canvas
This was painted from reference photos taken near the town of Little Rock, CA up in the Mojave Desert. The plan was to go plein air paint that day but I kept stopping on the way there so by the time I got there it was late afternoon and super cold. Instead of painting I just took reference photos until the sun went down. Not a waste of time since reference photos would give me what I needed to do paintings here in the studio. This area is just above Pearblossom highway and sundown was bringing in some awesome light. I love the desert in the evening and enjoy what the light can do to the colors up there. I think I could spend the rest of my life trying to capture the colors of the Mojave...even the dirt looks good when the sun is just right.

Eaton Canyon At Dusk

"Eaton Canyon At Dusk"

36" X 48" Oil on Canvas
A large painting of Eaton Canyon just before sunset. This scene was down in the riverbed in Fall this last year. Being a riverbed in a canyon there were plenty of rocks to paint so I took the liberty of editing many of them out of the scene. This allowed me to add more of the sandy bottom of the streambed and keep things not so busy in the foreground area. Took a few days to paint this one due to the large size but it went pretty smooth. The mountain sides of the canyon are an area I'm still working out to get to the point of feeling comfortable painting them and really loving what I end up with there. I like the progress so far with that part of these canyon paintings because the San Gabriel mountains to me are very hard mountains to paint. Lots of rocks and scrub brush so it is sort of a nightmare to handle for a painter.

In The Arroyo

"In The Arroyo"

22" X 28" Oil on Canvas
I was heading to take reference shots of the Colorado St bridge at the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena. Along the way the path went by these nice sycamore trees casting some nice shadows under the dense canopy. I've been trying to paint more sycamore trees so I decided to paint this scene....shadows, sycamores...win/win. Fun painting to do and full of small challenges along the way. This is a busy painting and one I would have stayed away from painting a couple of years ago. I'm feeling more confident with these types of scenes and am starting to enjoy their challenges. The background foliage is mostly just suggested work and after the initial colors are blocked in it becomes just a matter of suggesting leaves and shadows with bits of color notes. In the end it looks more than it really is...all a matter of suggestion which goes a long way in painting. Below are two images of the early stages of this painting .

Above you can see the background "tree" colors blocked in and at this stage I was starting to add "leaf" detail. Just blocking in the underlying background colors fills up the canvas pretty quick. I did this stage before going to bed and thenit overnight tacking up so in the morning I came back to it and just starting dabbing in the "leaves" and edges of the blocked in colors.

In the upper image you can see more of the background suggested color nots are in and I'm moving on to blocking in the dried leafy trail floor. Once these colors were in I went back over them scumbling with a worn brush and knife adding detail to that area. After a while I just jumped around the canvas dialing it all in until it looked and felt finished....and that's it.

Eaton Canyon

"Eaton Canyon Meadow"

22" X 28" Oil on Canvas

It seems everytime I go to Eaton canyon I end up in the meadow. It is just as you cross the water when hiking from the parking lot of the nature center there. There are some giant oaks and sycamores that line the meadow on one side and the bottom of the San Gabriel mountains on the other. This is the kind of trail my brother and I used to love running along playing as kids set free in the mountains. Lots of fun painting this one.

Here is a detail of the painting.....

I had the good fortune to visit the canyon 3 or 4 times this past year and that's pretty cool considering I now live over 130 miles away. When I was a kid we used to ride our bikes up to the canyon...or just walk if someone had a flat tire. They had the coolest pictures of a hiker who had been biten by a local rattlesnake. Our hikes were mostly in summer so it got pretty hot in the canyon by afternoon. Now I like to go there either in early morning or later afternoon to watch the colors of the San Gabriels ignite as the sun falls into the Pacific ocean. Sometimes the mountainsides are the most amazing pinks, reds and peach colors....just awesome to see this at various times of the year.

Spring Blooms

"Spring Blooms"

9"x 12" Oil on Panel
A painter buddy of mine, Rich Gallego, finished the year with a painting I saw and that was all I needed to get his kick in the butt to do a painting before the year ended but it was less than an hour away from midnight on New Years night. I started this one but had to stop to do the Champagne thing, haha. I finished it today after getting caught up with other needed things. This was painted from a small 5x7 study I did a few months back. I realy liked certain parts of the study and wanted to try a bit of a larger painting. I like the far off mountains but wish I had placed them just slightly higher. I also like the textures and bits of pure color in the foreground poppies. Some paintings are just fun to paint and this was one of those types of paintings....fun one to start the new year off with.
Happy 2011!!!