Summer Above Los Olivos

"Summer Above Los Olivos"

8" X 10" Oil on panel

Sitting here with gallons of Winter rain from a Pacific storm pouring outside. I started this one while waiting for the much predicted storm to arrive. I finished it this morning after spending the earlier part of morning clearing a clogged drain that had created a lake up near the higher parts of our property. Happens everytime...I need a bigger pipe up there. Anyway....it's nice to see a bit of summer on the easel to remind me why I should appreciate the much needed water here in California.

Midsummer Trail

"Midsummer Trail"

8" X 10" Oil on panel
Getting back into the groove after this years studio tour and a foray with a very large painting. Actually, after the tour there were a lot of things to take care of so between that and the larger work things had gotten delayed in painting small works. I'm hoping to get back to work on those paintings. Maybe I'll post the large one in here tomorrow. because I've got another large canvas waiting to go....busy busy busy...not to mention the holidays, hahaha.

Originally this was a 5" X 7" painting. I liked it and decided to paint a larger version that you see here in 16" X 20" size. This is a nice looking 3" wide Larsen Juhl fframe that I'm trying out with this painting.

I haven't painted anything for about a week now due to having to get ready for the Studio Tour this weekend (Nov 20 & 21). This last week was spent deciding which paintings to show and what frames to put them in. Some are fine framed the way they are but others are being switched around. There is a lot of deciding what paintings work well on certain walls and next to certain paintings. Tomorrow I need to varnish but I'm low on varnish so that means a 30 mile trip one way to pick some up. Then it's back here to varnish. The rest of the week will be framing and hanging, getting the studio cleaned up for company and helping Linda get nametags and other items ready....I'm telling you, by the time the studio tour happens we are nice and worn out, hahaha. I was recently down in Ventura harbor and managed to take a zillion reference shots. I uploaded them late last night when we got back and there are some really nice prospects in there...now I just need to window to get started painting.

Skark's Parlour

"Shark's Parlour"

16" X 20" Oil on Canvas
Just finished up on this sportfisherman berthed down at Santa Barbara harbor. I loved the glow of the white, yes, white cabin walls in the early afternoon sun. I tried to capture that color along the back wall of the cabin and transom while showing the bright day's light left on the sunlit sides of the boat. I am pretty happy with the job of capturing that glow so I feel this painting has me on the right course in my paintings. I'm a happy camper!

Autumn Trail

"Autumn Trail"

6" X 8" Oil on Panel
We've had rains, chilly weather and leaves blowing everywhere so summer has passed and we're headed for the winter holidays. Southern California, not being noted for snow, will have this look in many places...brown grasses slowly turning green as winter passes.

New Hazard

"New Hazard"

12" X 16" Oil on Canvas
This is one of the fishing boats down at Santa Barbara harbor that I see a lot on my visits there. A great looking older boat with lots of character. Here she is seen tied close to the fuel dock across from the Coast Guard cutter USCGC Blackfin.

Farming Corn Off 99

"Farming Corn Off 99"

12" X 16" Oil on Canvas

This is a painting I recently decided to touch up. I wasn't satisfied with my foreground so I decided to add more detail there. I also did some additional work to the trees and the barn so I'm pretty happy with it at this point.

Portuguese Bend

"Portuguese Bend"

6" X 8" Oil on Panel
I was painting the wild mustard down in Portuguese Bend a few years ago. Portuguese Bend is located near Long Beach and has some great painting spots. I painted just off of this road which was lined with lots of wild mustard...a fun day.
130.00

Summer Eve

"Summer Eve"

6" X 8" Oil on Panel
Fall is here and the warm summer grasses will soon be replaced by green grasses. I'll miss the warm tones of summer which I love to paint. Weather-wise I look forward to cooler temps and the smells of winter. Fireplaces will be burning and the night air has it's chill...I love it.

$130.00

Morning Near Santa Ynez

"Morning Near Santa Ynez"

5" X 7" Oil on Panel
This is a typical scene of a hiking trail you can find near Santa Ynez in spring. I've hiked above Lake Cachuma and seen the wildflowers in bloom and it can be quite a sight. I always love seeing the California poppies in spring and summer. We have them sprout up here in our yard and they will line both highways heading down to Santa Barbara.
$100.00

"Lupine Afternoon"

18" X 36" Oil on Canvas
Worked on this large one over the weekend. Good idea too since it rained this weekend and not much was going to get done in the way of yardwork. The Fall leaves are everywhere and I need to mulch! I kept the lighting low trying to promote the highlights at the tops of the trees as they caught the late afternoon sun. This was a very nice painting to work on.

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.

In The Fall

"In The Fall"

5" X 7" Oil on panel
Fall is here and the leaves are falling like crazy now. The mulching begins, hahaha. Decided to just go with the season here and show some color. Painted alla prima this evening.
$100.00

California Poppies

"Spring Poppies"

5" X 7" Oil on Panel
There is a field just outside of town that at one time was owned by Ray Kroc of McDonalds fame I believe. I pass by this field a lot. It has been used to grow flowers, alfalfa and other farm crops. They used to have a small barn type building that was used as a store to sell locally grown produce but it was torn down a couple off years ago. In between crops wildflowers will pop up and I've seen poppies growing in there. I painted this scene looking west in that field and added more poppies than are most likely there but it looks good to me.
$100.00