Sketch

"Evening Serenity Thumbnail Sketch"

pencil on scratch paper about 2, 1/2 inches high.

This painting, like a lot of my paintings, started out with this small thumbnail sketch in pencil on a piece of scratch paper. I took a look at it a second ago and the drawing is about a little less than 3 inches high. Nothing fancy, no values or detail...just the "map" of what I wanted in my painting. Most of the details are in my head. Some of the details are left vague on purpose so I can make changes and fit in what works for the painting as I go along....sometimes it is nice to be surprised at what the painting creates for the artist. Too much planning can take out a lot of the enjoyment of painting and make it more of a chore so I let some things come as the paintings feel or mood dictate.

Here is the finished painting. I'm pretty happy with it and even though it isn't a small painting it is more what I work on in my normal painting day. Some of the idea for this painting came from the small studies, sketches and works that are on this blog. The small paintings are very important in trying things out, working out ideas and then commiting to larger works.

"Evening Serenity" 24" X 36" Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

On The Easel 10.11.20

"Evening Serenity"

24" X 36" Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas
To date this has to be my largest painting with eucalyptus trees. This was so fun to paint it isn't funny. I went with a different sky color approach using a mix of Cerulean Blue, Titanium White and just a bit of Cadmium Yellow Light. This combination gives the sky a greenish/blue color. Too much cad yellow and you get a green sky so when I say "a bit" of cad yellow it is a bit. While letting this one sit for a day or two I did a couple of small ones on my pochade easel. Came back to this one and did a few touch ups and I'll let it sit for another day before calling it finished.

A Tall Eucalyptus Tree

"Majesty"

16" X 20" Oil on Canvas

Painted this one up to show at my upcoming Studio Tour. I like the vertical format with the eucalyptus tree running off the canvas. I also like the nice contrast between foreground tree and eucalyptus trees back in the distant haze...I like that effect. I also painted this one to gear up for a very large one I want to do that I was talking to my friend and talented artist Christine Brallier about....I've still tinkering with that idea in the back of my mind.

Eucalyptus Study 2

"Eucalyptus Study 2"

5" X 7" Oil on Panel
I finished up another painting late last night and cropped part of the base of a tree as a detail image. As I looked at it I thought it would make a good painting focusing on just the base of a eucalytpus tree. I grabbed another panel and did this painting in about an hour. I wish I could paint these little ones faster. Sometimes they go pretty quick but other times, the majority of times, I spend way too much time doing these...almost as long as a 9x12 painting. I like the trunk here and that was why I painted this one. Thes euc trunks can be white, cream, red, pink...it all depends on the light of day. Overall it was a very fun painting.

$100.00

Along Old Friends

"Along Old Friends"

5" X 7" Oil on Panel
I'm really glad I painted this one. I love the results and even though this is a small painting this is to date my favorite one of this size. It started out as just a painting to try a different sky color and experiment with the colors and handling of the background trees. One good thing led to another and the foreground was finished up. I love the colors used in this one and the "feel" of the painting. I'll actually go with a larger version of this soon which I'm looking forward to painting. I enjoy paintings that start as one thing and then become something of their own by the end. A wonderful alla prima painting effort.
$115.00

California Spring

"California Spring"

5" X 7" Oil on Panel

From looking at this hear this painting seems to be much larger than it's 5"x7" size. I like squeezing in as much real estate on a small painting to see what the limits are...and I haven't found them yet! I sat down to paint this one using nothing but my imagination. I wanted to paint a scene of what I feel areas of the Central Coast would have looked like before they became settled. I miagine it would have looked much like this scene...wide open valleys splattered with massive eucalyptus trees and poppies lining the valley floors in springtime...a California Spring.

$100.00

A Moment

"A Moment"

5"x7" Oil on panel

This is a great little painting to start off this collection of small paintings. It has the elements in it that I really enjoy painting since moving to the central coast of California. Large dominating eucalytpus trees fading into the distance and large expanses of land not built over like you see down in southern California where I grew up. They had this type of view down there many, many years ago and it's a shame most of it has been lost due to growth and expansion in southern California. Just look at the paintings of the early California impressionsist painters and you can see how they enjoyed painting scenes like this right in the San Gabriel valley where I grew up. You'd be hard pressed to find such an idyllic scene there now. I enjoy seeing views like this a lot where I live now. Whew!

$100.00