My Sierras

This is an image from my 2019 visit to the Eastern Sierra. I find mountain ranges similar to portrait work. This was done in gouache. Of course, numerous sketchbook studies preceded this painting. Some artists that I follow on Instagram capture this area far better than me.

Hidden in the Trees

This little painting was inspired by a value sketch completed on site. Pam saw a vineyard and hillside hay bales and pulled off the highway to let me get in some sketches and photos. Unfortunately my camera battery was not properly charged so I used my phone and copic markers to document the scene. This was across the street from the hay bales. $25.00 plus shipping.

House on the Hill

I started this one back in and July and left it at Pam's unfinished. This is a scene out her dining room window. I worked with Pan Pastels on Canson paper. I finished it the day we got back in from Fort Bragg. I like the way the light hit the house.

Redwood Forest 2 (study)

On our way back from Fort Bragg we usually ride a few miles through these beautiful redwoods. We normally stop to smell the air and shoot a few pictures. This was the first study completed in my new studio.

Pea Soup (study)

This is the study for two previous posts associated with coastal fog. In the pastel version I included a person to give scale to the rock formations. For reasons unknown I left the person out of the study. Its also interesting to see the differences.

Around the Bend

This is a Northern California landscape that I've been tooling with for a while. I'm still over working it and I will post the results when I give up and stop laying on the pastels.

Richmond Treetops

I like sitting in Pam's backyard. The sky on sunny days is so vivid. Of course I paint the treetops a lot but I like the way the light hits them. I usually sit and paint til it gets too windy and cold.

Afternoon Waves

This was my first painting of the trip using the limited palette of the primaries, white and burnt sienna. This is part of the tree stand in front of our patio. The light was getting to that special point and the waves were hypnotic.

Gray Day Surf (Pastel Version)

This is the pastel version. In an earlier post you saw the small 5 by 7 oil study.

Busy Busy Waters

This is almost finished. Its my first pastel painting on velour. The surface is interesting to paint on. This is one of those Glass Beach scenes with rushing waves, wind, fog, mist, seagulls... I'm trying to look deeper to get the colors accurate.

Fog Lifting Study

This painting is about fog that is yielding to the sun. One of my favorite foggy beaches is Muir Beach. Its a small intimate little beach near Stinson beach. Of course I'm thinking of playing with this one a little more but I do like the foreground and will probably leave it alone.

Day 2 Four

This is a small study completed on my cliff. My intent was to depict the edge of the cliff and the grass that sprigs up in the sand. This one can almost be a beach from above and the sprigs can be seen as wavelets. I may use this for a larger piece.

Day one One

The firs painting executed on day one. My focus was on the rock shadows and the light that creates the shadow.

Significant foliage

This is the same area as yesterdays post. My focus here was the bush. I like the way it slopes over the fence.

Oceanside Gravel Pit

This is one of my favorite trees on the pathway by the hotel. Further down there's this gravel pit in front of an awesome view of the ocean and land. I liked the slope of the tree across the fence. I was pretty loose and wet with the paper. I like the movement in this obviously still landscape. I think the movement can be attributed to the fact that I had been recording waves in my brain all day. To relax the brain I turned away from the ocean and painted this.

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.

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.

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.

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