The Wetlands

The Wetlands at Point Reyes

I painted in Point Reyes on Friday.  I was hoping that it would be sunny, but sadly, I have no control over the weather, so I just had to go with it; which turned out to be a grey-mid-tone painting.  That black speck on the upper left is a bug that flew smack dab into my wet sky.  I'm off today for a Southern Thanksgiving and am not flying my gear with me, so I'll be paint-free for the next several days.  However, I'm bringing my sketch book and plan to draw everyday; at least, that's the plan.  I'll be back next week to wrap up the sixties.  Happy Thanksgiving!

6' x8"
Foggy Day #68

Completed Persimmons

6" x8"
Finished Persimmons #67

I finished the persimmon painting yesterday.  I think I'm getting the hang of painting reflections and realizing the power of a highlight!  I'm headed off to Point Reyes today to paint the landscape, but the weather's not looking so great - foggy and rainy.  I may have to do another still life.

Persimmons

6" x 8"
Persimmons #67

I was running behind schedule today and only had 45 minutes to paint.  I got this far (see above photo).  Not too bad for 45 minutes - I'm definitely improving.  I'm going to finish it tomorrow and hope to keep it looking loose.  My persimmon tree is loaded with fruit this fall, so get ready for a lot of persimmon paintings.

Here's my still life set-up in the studio

Sun in the Headlands

9"x12"
Headlands #65

Well, it was sunny in the Headlands today, so I painted the "secret" beach again.  I was much more successful this time,  after spending a week painting the surf in Big Sur.  I blocked in the values first and that really helped set up the compostion and sense of light.  The light was changing fast, but I stuck with the original sketch and I think that made a difference.

Flower Power

6" x 8"
Pink Zinnia #64

I'm starting to get the hang of painting reflections in this silver cup.  I hope to work up to an Airstream one day, so I need to keep complicating the reflection by adding more objects and pattern in the still life.    Once again the flower is the hard part.  I struggled forever with this zinnia and finally just had to make myself stop.  I exceeded the hour limit, lets just put it that way.

TGIF

6" x 8"
The Very Last Zinnia #62

I thought I would torture myself some more today and paint flowers again.  Please, don't ask me why I do this.  I brought in a silver Jefferson Cup and all-in-all, I'm am happy with the reflection.  It actually looks like metal - yay!

Here's the real Zinnia.  It's the very last one from my garden.

I redid the silver cup from yesterday - much better!

6" x 8"
Three Clementines #63

I had exactly an hour left, so I painted the clementines from start to finish.  I laid in the values and focused on creating a strong light source, thinking that that would make up for any misshapen fruit I may paint.  They say establishing your values is KEY to a successful painting and I think they're on to something.  I like this painting - it's super loose for me.

Off to the last football game - GO CATS!

I hit SIXTY today!

6"x8"
Nightmare Painting #60

This is what a rubbed-out painting looks like.

I love receiving flowers, but I must say, I really don't like painting them.  I'd so much rather paint a rocky coastline with pounding surf in the fog, than to paint a flower.  Flowers are hard to paint.  I spent way too much time this morning on my first attempt, then had to give it a "good rubbing" (as my old college art teacher would frequently recommend) I started again, and this is what I finally finished with.  I still need to work on reflections, so I think I'm going to bring in a silver cup and leave it in the studio - just not sure what to put in it, since flowers are so darn awful.

After lunch, it was still raining (or rather misting), so I did a quick night-time painting from a photograph.  I LOVE night paintings and really want to learn how to paint them - so much to learn!!  I love the creepy glow from the florescent street lights - it feels so lonely.  Some people actually set up outside and paint with a headlamp!  This photo is not very good - too much reflection - but, I'm happy with this little painting and look forward to painting more.

6"x8"
Nocturnal Painting #61

Oh, My Darling Clementine

6" x 6"
Clementines #59

Well, it seems that painting all those rocks certainly improved my still life - I like how this little painting turned out.  I did these clementines today and worked on a few paintings from last week. I felt much looser with my brushwork and the shading came easier than before.  Also, I painted on a 6"x6" which is new to me, and I liked it. I think I'll prime a stack and start incorporating this size into the rotation.

I had my monthly critique yesterday and it was great to get feedback from the work I did last week in Big Sur.  However, it was even better to see what Tim has been up to since our last meeting.

Tim with his most excellent painting of an airstream

The Airstream painting

I love this painting.  We found this Airstream last month when we were up in Napa and Tim took tons of photos - he has an entire Airstream photograph catalogue.  We were so psyched to see the red tire, and the green hose it was too good to be true - look what he did with it.  Go to his website and check out his Airstream paintings, you won't even believe how great they are.

Hello! Back From Big Sur

8" x10"
Carmel Beach #51

I just got home from a 5 day painting workshop in Big Sur.  I was so tired at the end of each the day, I couldn't post, so there's a lot to cover.  It was five full days of intense painting - nine to five, painting that gorgeous rugged coastline.  I was in heaven and learned a ton! We basically painted cliffs, rocks and crashing waves all day long.  Oh, and the weather was perfection. Bill Davidson taught us how to "break it all down" and assemble the landscape on our canvas.  He starts with SHAPES.  You've got to get a strong abstract composition before you begin to tackle the scene.  And that landscape down there can be somewhat daunting, to say the least, so this was very good advice.  However, the first day we started easy, with a beach scene at Asilomar State Park in Pacific Grove.  Mine was so awful,  I threw it in the ocean.  But, I did the one above the following morning and it was much better.

Point Lobos State Park

8" x 10"
Point Lobos #52

Later that afternoon we drove down to Point Lobos State Park and tried our hand at the crashing surf and rocky cliffs - beginner stuff.  Shapes REALLY matter when you paint rocks.  They can start looking like the craziest things - hamsters, tennis shoes, pumpkins, you name it - so, you have to step back a lot in order to keep an eye on those shapes.

Rocky Point, Big Sur
Can you even believe how beautiful this place is?

8" x10"
Rocky Point #53

8" x 10"
Rocky Point #54

I really love painting these rocks and the water's surface.  To me, part of the beauty of Big Sur is that you are always looking down on the water and there is so much action on the surface; the reflections, the waves, the color changes - there's never a dull moment.  I also realized how I prefer to draw things from this particular perspective - looking down on something.  When I was studying architecture, my best drawings were always from this perspective, so this part of the painting was not really a problem for me, it was actually fun.  However, painting a rock is learned skill.  

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES can you think about what you are painting - you have to paint what you see, NOT what you think you see.

9" x 12"
Rocky Point #55
I did this sketch in about 20 minutes.  It was the third painting of the day.
I was really happy with it because it was so loose and I captured so much distance in composition.

Painting at Rocky Creek Bridge looking up at Rocky Point

9" x12"
Rocky Point Bridge #56

This was painted on the morning of the last day.  I decided to paint on a larger canvas and it really made a difference for me. I was pleased with this painting, as that first cliff shape was really weird and I liked the palette.

9" x 10"
Rocky Point #57

 Here is the last painting form the workshop.  I think it's the best.  I can work on the "white water" and need to tone down the yellow, but I can see I improved over the week.  This painting was fun to paint.  I never freaked out over the rocks and cliffs, and I tried to put into play everything that I learned over the week.

Here's a summary of some of the things we learned:

1. Establish a Process that works for you.
2. Look for a Focal Point: DESIGN DESIGN DESIGN
3. SHAPES; Keep it Simple.  Hold your Big Value Shapes (don't break is up with other values)
4. STEP AWAY OFTEN (I definitely need to do this more)
5. SEPARATION - separate the foreground middle ground and distance

 

Bill Davidson is a great teacher and inspirational person. Here's just a sampling of the things he told us all day long:

     "GO OUT AND MAKE A LIFE , PAINT WHATEVER YOU LOVE, MAKE IT LOOK THE WAY YOU WOULD LOVE IT TO LOOK, GET THICK PAINT,  MAKE THAT PAINTING SING .YOUR STYLE FINDS YOU.  ENJOY IT ALL"

I certainly enjoyed it all this week!  I always love time with my gal-pals from North Carolina.  It was such a treat to paint with them everyday for the week.

The North Carolinians at Rocky Creek Bridge
Tra, Frances, Boo and Nancy

Aunt Boo and me
(a much better photo of Boo)

 And now for today!

8" x10"
Sorich Ridge #58

This is the last one, I promise.  I wanted to get to the Headlands today and practice my new rock painting skills, but it was completely fogged in.  So, I headed over to Sorich Ridge and painted the house on the end of Ridgewood.  Tim has painted this composition before, so I knew it worked.  Plus, I was kind of looking down on it, so it seemed to relate to all the rocks I have been painting this week.  After all the painting I've done this week, the "process" today seemed easy compared to the Big Sur coastline.  Hopefully, the fog clears this week so that I can get out and paint some rocky cliffs.