Balboa Tree

I was leaving Balboa Park in San Diego, California turned and took this shot. The tree was gorgeous. My camera I must admit did not do the colors justice. I plan to enlarge the photo and put it on display in my new studio space in the Artist Artspace Gallery and Studio. The painting will be right next to it. Its fun to view the preliminary sketches for final paintings. You tend to get a sense of the process involved in producing the art.

Essex Thaw

A few years ago I was visiting friends in Essex, MA. I spent the day photographing the area. I worked with medium format film and digital images. I now have a studio space maybe I will do a showing of the photos and paintings there. I loved the cool weather and the countryside. It made me homesick as I did spend some formative years there. The first version was done in watercolor. This is oil on copper.

Third of the day

This is a study on movement and color. Its the third painting of the day. I painted from a vantage point above the ocean on a cliff. For the crashing waves. which were big, I used the white of the paper.

Before Nightfall

This is an image from Fort Bragg, California just before dark. I enjoyed painting the plein air pieces so much that I just had to revisit the subject again. I worked from a photo on this one and larger at 9 by 12 inches. I worked fast and only had two sessions with it. I was going for fresh not overworked.

Marisas Flowers

These are gifted tulips that I was allowed to photograph by the recipient. This is the third in a series of florals on copper.

Commerce Railyard Building

If you are traveling down one of the main streets in Commerce you will see this building to your left as you are going towards the Sulphur Springs highway. I've photographed it many times and decided to paint a small version of it. Since I'm in Commerce for the weekend, I thought a painting from the area would be appropriate.

Flow in

This one is a trading card image. When I was painting on the coast I would take out a trading card and paint a wave to save it quickly in my mind. My goal here was to get a feel of movement and to also get the colors of a wave cresting.

Left View

We were sitting on the beach at Mackerricher State Park and this was the view to my left. I also finished a few from the vantage point depicted here. The water was all over the place. Paintings everywhere.

Houston Highway Clouds

Years ago when I prosecuted tax fraud cases I made frequent trips to Houston. On one of our trips back to Austin the investigator pulled over to let me get this shot of the clouds after a brief storm. This one is all about the clouds for me. 5 by 7 inches oil on copper panel

Right of Way

I've painted this scene before. I've been going back to older images and giving them another artistic go. These are dairy cows on one of the many dairy farms on the Point Reyes National Seashore in California. I worked on a copper panel for this one. 8 by 10 inches

Morning Mist

This was the first painting of the day. We headed out to Mackerricher State Park that has a beautiful beach and Cleone Lake. The lake is a great place to watch ducks and the morning mist as the sun begins to burn off the fog. The light is amazing. While there two fathers drove up with their sons and kayaks to go for a morning paddle on the lake. It's nice to see fathers engaged with their children. I worked on Canson paper with Sennelier pastels.

Sunset Three 9510

This was the last sunset painting completed in Fort Bragg, CA. This one is loose because I started painting that morning and didnt quit until 8 p.m. I started with pastels and ended with the oilson copper.

Two Commerce Cows

Years ago I was riding the "country " roads of Commerce and came upon these calves that had gotten outside their fence. The older bull in the background had an expression that reminded me of the saying that "the grass is not always greener on the other side". In editing the painting I left the other calf out.

Wave Crest

I worked in pastels my last full day on the beach, My goal was to watch, commit to memory and then to surface. Its amazing the amount of color one can find in a rushing ocean. The vantage point was above the beach so I'm looking down.

Sunset 9410

This sunset was painted September 4. Its the second in a series of three that were painted while I was vacationing. I was freezing so that's probably why there is so much movement in this one. Its my favorite of the three. Oil on copper , 5 by 7 inches, $130.00

Day One Three

This was the first oil painting of the day. Earlier in the day I had worked in watercolor. The vantage point was the hotel balcony that overlooked the cliff and underlying ocean waves. Painting such and active scene forces me to take long looks to record what I want to put on the painting surface. I also worked with a limited palette which included the three primaries, white and burnt umber (I think). Holbein water miscible oils. 5 by 7 inches $100.00 pesos plus shipping.

3 Bales Again

Those of you familiar with this blog know that I paint an image multiple times. This is the second time that Ive used this image. The source photo was taken during a recent visit to my hometown of Commerce, Texas. The most recent post was a 5 by 7 incher. This one is an 8 by 10 on copper.

Late Morning Beach 2010

The waves at this beach are very active. These poles I think are from a dock that used to exist. This was the second painting of the day. Across the parking lot is a nice little lake with ducks, greenery and atmosphere. A beautiful place that I am glad we took time to revisit.

Sunset 1

Each day I painted a picture of the ocean after the sun had set. This is the first in that series of three. Its amazing how cold and windy it gets once the sun goes down. The sky and ocean were blocks of color. Oil on copper 5 by 7 inches $125.00.

Wine Country on Copper

I'm back from a nice vacation in Northern California. The weather was great as was the scenery. I did tons of plein air work and can happily say I completed about 25 pieces. This year I spent the first part of my painting time out on one of the cliffs overlooking the ocean. The sunset pictures were painted from the room patio. This is one that was inspired by a photo taken during my 3rd year of visiting part of the California wine country. This is oil on copper 6 by 12 inches $325.00

Mendocino Cove Fini

As per usual I regret going in and reworking a painting. But I think this one needed some clarification which can delete the initial freshness of an image. I still like the strokes. Oil on Copper 8 by 10 $175.00

Mendocino Cove in prog

I spent most of Saturday night working on this initial lay in. I know I probably should have left it alone but I didn't. I like the movement in this. With the revision I think I took away some of the freshness I see here. I'm learning to step away but not quite there yet.