Tuesday, March 31, 2009

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.

Monday, March 30, 2009

rockstudy #3 6x8

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

Sunday, March 29, 2009

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.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

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.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

chocolate bar 7x5

I ran in to some technical difficulties posting last night. Sorry this is late.
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Sunday, March 22, 2009

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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Saturday, March 21, 2009

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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Friday, March 20, 2009

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.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

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.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

rock study #2 10x8

Some more rocks near the Rainbow Bridge.

Monday, March 16, 2009

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.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

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.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Friday, March 13, 2009

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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Thursday, March 12, 2009

whole avocado 7x5

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

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

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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Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Monday, March 09, 2009

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.

Sunday, March 08, 2009

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.

Friday, March 06, 2009

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.

Thursday, March 05, 2009

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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Wednesday, March 04, 2009

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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Tuesday, March 03, 2009

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!

Monday, March 02, 2009

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.

Sunday, March 01, 2009

salt and pepper #2

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