Bouncing Waves

I haven't yet declared this one complete yet. I painted a 9 by 12 on site and used it for this 18 by 24 incher. We traveled as far north as Jenner, California that day. I remember standing looking down and painting this image. I worked quick because it was freezing and windy.

Braids Updated

I'm still tooling around with this one. It started out (as can be seen in the sketch below) as my sister Karen. Once I started to add paint my sister Tammie emerged. Its fun painting my family and seeing each of us in one another. The original impression is posted below.

Days Departure

I used one of my plein air paintings for this piece. I remember the painting session. It was the end of a day filled with plein air painting around the Mendocino and Fort Bragg Areas. I was squinting and in an almost meditative state. I like getting to that point in a painting holiday. The oceans sounds were beautiful. People were out and about. I was standing on the hotel balcony in heaven.

At Peace

In my opinion, its easier to capture a person's inner essence if you paint them from life. I see a real difference in my paintings from photos. This is my sisters intended. He sat for me during the Christmas holidays.

Kiss The Sky 2

Another exploration study for a larger sunset painting.

He Didn't Snore

This guy sat next to me on the plane ride from Oakland, California. When he fell asleep I got in a quick painting of him. He slept most of the trip as did the window seat passenger that I posted previously.

Late Lunch 2

The second painting done while waiting for my lunch at Princeton Seafood Company. I like their food and the way the place is set up. They always have watercolors displayed on the walls.

El Granada Pier New Years Day

Earlier in the day on New Years Eve we had lunch at the Princeton Seafood Company. I wanted to paint some boats so we walked around for a bit and I got in two little trading card images of the boats and people. When we got home I worked from the trading card image to create this painting which is 8 by 10 inches.

Rainy Day New York

I have an ad in next months American Art Collector Cityscape feature. This little painting gets a lot of attention on my Fine Art America website so I decided to post it here. My friend Kim Bloom took the picture for me on one of her many travels.

Hillside Dining

I threw down this quick impression of cows dining on the hillside as my last sketch of the day. I added some pastel back at the house. I wanted to refine it more but decided to stay with the initial impression.

Working Harbor

I was cold but this was fun to paint. I like to paint during the hours that most consider to be less than favorable light. My take on light is that any time of day presents a light that can be translated into art. All light in my opinion is beautiful.

Kiss The Sky

I'm still doing studies for a larger painting. This is a portion of the sky that will appear in the larger painting. Even with photos you can see so many colors in the clouds. I'm working on the smooth side of Canson paper in this one.

Its Snow! (in progress)

I'm still nit picking on this one. I want her eyes and cheeks to be open and excited. Right now she looks asleep. Stay tuned. This is my niece's daughter on Christmas day. We were outside playing in the snow. She was on the porch watching, excited and scared of getting pounded with snowballs.

The sketch in preparation.

Richmond Inner Harbor

This is a painting of the inner harbor of Point Richmond. Another day of freezing while painting.

Sleepy Model 1

She sat next to the window on my most recent flight home from California. And she fell asleep...

Sundown Hurries

I liked how the sunset was reflected in the office windows. This is an exploration study for a larger painting. I started this painting Friday night. The first order of business was a pencil study. That was followed by a watercolor under painting. Uart pastel paper was the surface that I used. To get my darkest darks I relied on my Terry Ludwig intense darks. Those were complemented with Rembrandts which are my work horses.

Genesis Floating

After lunch we walked along the harbor. I had two packs of SOHO aceo trading cards with me so I got in a little painting after lunch. When its cold out a small painting is best.

Richmond Wranglers Building

I did the sketch on site with my Aquarelle Graphite pencil. I applied water at home to establish the values and finally added the pastel once dry. I worked on Uart paper that I had cut down to 3.5 by 5 inches. When its cold outside its best for me to work small. However for this trip I made a point of painting on 9 by 12 watercolor paper. I usually work smaller.

Hillside View

This painting is from my January 3, 2013 painting session on Point Richmond. I worked with Golden Open Acrylics and canvas panels. These paintings took more time than the oils because it wasn't as easy to premix the colors on the palette before painting.

Light Shaft in Redwoods

My feet were freezing at the point in which I took the paper out to paint this piece. We were on the side of the road in the Samuel P. Taylor State Park in Marin County. As I stood painting I felt the cold creep up into my body from the ground. So this was a very quick painting. That area is a plein air painters dream.

Working Vessel

Another painting from the many visits to Point Richmond during my holiday in Northern California. I did a 3 by 5 watercolor as my last plein air piece of the day. I worked up the pastel that evening.

Bayside Point Reyes

We ended up on the bay side of Point Reyes National Seashore. I painted this in the afternoon as it was getting cooler and the breeze was picking up. I sat down on the ground with my Guerrilla paint box and committed this scene to my memory. I didnt take many pictures with my camera this visit. I relied on my own camera with my hands, eyes and paints.

A Late Lunch

I like painting small because it allows me to paint a lot of pictures in public places without being noticed. I painted this while waiting for lunch at Princeton Seafood Company in El Granado, California. This couple actually had a child with them. I used the SOHO Aceo trading cards and my Koi watercolors. The lunch was great. A nice salad and a big bowl of clam chowder yum.

Inlet Near Bay Bridge

I spent some quality time with Pam for the New Year. We stayed close to home and I got to explore and paint around Point Richmond. I am always amazed at the things right in the backyard like Point Richmond. Point Richmond is a working harbor area plus a nice chunk of scenery. I painted this scene the last morning of painting. I haven't worked in acrylic in a while so I consider this a warm up piece. Pam pointed this inlet out the second day of painting.