Lake Solano 12x9

The Winters Plein Air Festival is going on for the rest of this week. The next few paintings are all of Winters and the surrounding area.

rockstudy #3 6x8

This is at Granite Bay out near Dotton's Point.

Winters bluff 8x6

I went out to Winters again and did a pretty epic hike up near lake Berryessa. I was hoping to get up near some cool rock outcrops that I could see from the road. The trail was very steep and quite spectacular, unfortunately it was also quite windy and nearly impossible to set up my pochade. I did this painting just to document the trouble I went through to get to this spot. I was too miserable to have any hope of it coming out well.

Winters Cafe 6x8

Today was the first day of the Winters Plein Air Festival. It was a fantastic day to be out painting. My wife and I ate at this cafe (the food was excellent) and then I painted it. I had to take off after one painting because I had another commitment but I'll be back tomorrow.

No Hands Bridge #13 8x10

suburban nocturne #3 6x8

Granite Bay #4 8x6

chocolate bar 7x5

I ran in to some technical difficulties posting last night. Sorry this is late.
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rocky knoll 6x8

stream 12x9

This is a small stream off of Scott Road toward El Dorado Hills. It was a fantastic day for painting. I got hit with a little rain but it didn't last too long.
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Crayolas #3 5x7

It was a rainy day and I wasn't able to get outside to paint. I used to color on rainy days when I was little.
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shore line 4.5x5

I have been thinking and reading a lot about painting water lately and I wanted to try some things. I decided to approach things a little differently and, instead of going outside to paint today, I copied a painting that I found on Armand Cabrera's excellent blog. I didn't try to reproduce his piece stroke for stroke. I was trying to use color in a similar way to capture the dual transparent and reflective quality of the water. I've been wanting to try this from life for a while but it's a fairly daunting prospect for me and I felt like I would be better prepared for a plein air session if I copied a couple by people who had already mastered the idea. There are some wonderful articles on painting water on James Gurney's blog. If you look closely you can see a bunch of dirt stuck to this painting. I cleverly dropped it face down so it would look more like a plein air piece.

No Hands Bridge #12

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No Hands Bridge #11

I met my friend Frank down at the confluence today. Painting is usually a solitary activity for me so it's a rare treat when there's company. The light was good as was the conversation. Franks is a nice guy and a fine painter. His blog is well worth checking out.

rock study #2 10x8

Some more rocks near the Rainbow Bridge.

off Scott Road 8x10

Scott Road is a rural lane between sacramento and El Dorado Hills. There's plenty of material out there for a plein air painter but It's pretty narrow and there aren't too many places to pull off and paint. This rocky knoll was an exception. There was just enough room for me to get my car off the road.

rock study 8x6

These rocks are just below the old Rainbow Bridge in Folsom. I've seen them a thousand times. The other day I was returning from painting in a different spot when I saw them with the late afternoon sun hitting them from the side.

art room #7 10x8

No Hands Bridge #10 8x10

I was hiking around looking for another vantage point on this subject and I came up with this. At some point I want to get here in the morning so I can paint this under different lighting conditions.
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whole avocado 7x5

Avocados are more colorful when you cut them open but the subtle beaty of their outsides shouldn't be overlooked.

hanging banana 5x7

They were giving these unfortunate little bananas out at nutrition break today. Most of them looked like they were about ready to be baked into banana bread.
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hippo #3 7x5

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mirror ball #5 5x7

A few days ago a friend of mine made a time lapse video of me painting a landscape. I ran into some technical difficulties in getting it to my computer and then to the internet but I liked how it came out. I set up my camera in my classroom and made a video of this painting. I tried to keep it short because these things can try the patience of even people who are interested in such things.

American River #7 6x8

I've painted from this spot before but this is the first time I've done it with the sun at my back. The light made it more challenging and I find that I'm struggling a bit with landscapes in general right now. I know it's because I haven't been out regularly. There are a couple of plein air events that I want to do in the next couple of months so I'll be making a point of painting outside as often as possible in the near future.

river boat 8x10

Logan #3 10x8

I think I've mentioned before that Logan is one of my favorite models. He takes it very seriously and stays very still without complaint. I think his face has a lot of gravity for a young guy.

No Hands Bridge #9 10x8

It was a beautiful afternoon. I wanted to get down to the confluence about an hour earlier than I did. This time of year the sun disappears behind the canyon rim pretty quickly. I only had about 30 minutes before the bridge was completely in the shadows. I had to block every thing in lickety split and then make the final adjustments after I got home.
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kumquats 7x5

It was great fun introducing my students to kumquats. Most of them had never tried them before. All the kids who tried them really liked them.
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white camellia 5x7

A student brought me thsi to paint last week but I didn't get around to it until today. It still looked great. This is one hardy white flower!

Cathedral Peak 8x10

This is Cathedral Peak. It's all snowed in right now so I did this painting from some photos. I want to spend some time in the Sierras with my paint box this summer. I climbed this a few years ago with a good friend.

salt and pepper #2

I borrowed this modern looking salt and pepper set from my sister.
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