Holiday Sail

Fourth of July I think and the boats were out. Oil paint drawing sticks and tempra paint.

Escaping Light

This painting was started years ago and left in a pile of unfinished works. This year I finished it up with gel pens, etc. It's a painting of Northern California redwoods.

Magical Hills

The fog was extremely thick on the day I took the photo that inspired this painting. Of course all images are open to interpretation.

Lake Cleone Atmosphere 1

Usually on our last day in the Fort Bragg area we visit Mackerricher State Park. The beach is beautiful and Lake Cleone is always a distraction from it. The morning atmosphere in the forest is always engaging to me. Pam was busy collecting rocks and shells. I did this little piece standing outside the car.

Sierra Cliffside and Sierra Slice

Another two paintings for the Eastern Sierra series. I'm working in different formats and mediums and it's fun. I took hundreds of photos and almost finished a complete sketchbook while there. I'm really looking forward to going back.

Stream And Dream

This painting is from our 2019 trip to the Eastern Sierra. I've been slowly building up this body of work. I really liked the light and reflections in this scene. Water reflections are the latest challenge revisited.

Mt. Diablo Fog and Rain

I recently had my first opportunity to visit California since the pandemic began. I really missed the majestic views. I went with Pam and her friends on a golf outing. I didnt golf but I did sketch and take photos of the beautiful landscape. This was my attempt at Mt. Diablo. The clouds and fog were amazing. The touch of the sun on the greeens was just beautiful.

Samuel P. Taylor Trees

Happy New Year Everyone. This is the companion piece to the last post of 2021.

Eastern Sierras Snow

About a year before the pandemic hit we traveled to the Eastern Sierras. Just like the ocean, these enormous mountains make me feel oh so insignificant. This was done on Saint Armand paper using a variety of pastels in a square format.

Three Aspens

I don't know which lake this was but I do remeber these aspens and the light on them. We were exploring the Eastern Sierras three years ago and we pulled over to this wonderful patch of trees. This is the intitial study in pastel. I first started out with small 2 by 2 sketches of this area in my sketchbook. This painting is small but I think it packs a little bit of a punch.

Berkeley Botanical Garden

Last year we went back to the Berkeley Botanical Gardens. This was my first visit in over ten years. The views were still breathtaking. I was sporting a new camera with a wide angle lens. I was drawn to the palm tree and the overall atmosphere of the landscape . I was amazed at the quantity of vegetables that they had growing on the grounds. They had beautiful patches of collard greens. I was tempted to pick some to cook. That, I assume, would have been frowned upon.

Lake Surface

This is a little sketch on Khadi paper from my trip to the Eastern Sierras. The water was amazingly clear. I'm going to do more studies of the water surface from some of the photos that I took. My strategy when out painting, is to capture as many drawings in ink as time allows. I later add color from memory or photos. I added sky color to the snow to make it look less like white cut outs.

Forest Meditation 1

During the break Pam and I visited Samuel P. Taylor park. It was raining so I did initial drawing sitting in her car. Back in Texas, I am adding color from memory. My goal is to translate how I felt that day in the rain at such a beautiful and spiritual place.

Fridge Stickers

This painting is one of my still life pieces that includes some refrigerator stickers. I wanted to change it up a bit. One of the photos is my Mom and the other is an old one of me. I pained it in honor of Mothers day.

A page from on of my toned tan sketchbooks.

Moss Covered

As we entered Samuel P. Taylor park we found a legal place to pull over for me to take pictures. I slid down the hill to take a few shots of the beautiful stream that flows through it. I was busy taking photos when Pam said that I would hurt myself. I ignored her and continued shooting. At one point, I took a step without looking and of course fell. I had enough and climbed back up the hill. Of course two more mishaps before I got to the car. "You jinxed me", I told her once safely in the car. This is an old moss covered redwood tree.

Beauty In Pollution

This painting was inspired by a sketch that I did from Pam's car on the way home from the super market. I was breaking in my new marker sketchbook from Crescent while we were waiting in traffic. I liked the smoke or hopefully steam that was in the foreground and the associated structures. I used an oil under painting on hand made St. Armand canal paper.

Dinner For Five

Pam was kind enough to pull over and let me get the initial line work in on site in ink. I worked on a 5 by 7 piece of Fisher 500 pastel paper. Recently I treated myself to a set of Henri Roche pastels so I took them for a test drive on this piece. I also used my Diane Townsend Wolf Khan inspired set for balance with the lights.

Golden Glow

I love painting barns and the summer grass in California which in some places is golden brown. I love how it contrasts with the trees which are dark green with deep enticing shadows. This is the largest version of this image after multiple studies.

Midday Tree Shadow

We got to the park at about 3 in the afternoon and the light was grey and a little flat. Pam asked if I could get anything out of the light. My response was that I could work in any light...as long as I have some shadows I enjoyed the light in the background because it challenged me to see the various greys in the atmosphere.

Tree Reflection At Sunset

The sun was going down and I noticed the reflection on the water. This is the resulting painting. I am on day two of an art challenge from a Facebook friend. My intent is to nominate people who don't think they are artists and have them share their work.