Phantom Spires #2 8x10

This is one of a pair of commissions that I did for a couple of rock climbers.

Big Sur 12x9

I started this one on the drive home. I didn't have time to finish it on site though. I just finished it up in my studio.
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Sugarloaf 6x8

Phantom Spires 8x6

My son and I went rock climbing at Sugarloaf just above Kyburz. It was a fantastic day. After our climb we headed up the hill to get burgers at the Strawberry Lodge. When we were coming home I saw this back lit view of the Phantom Spires and decided to snap a picture to aid my memory so I could paint it when I got home. There are a lot of great places to paint that also happen to be great places to climb. It's going to be hard to make up my mind this summer!

American River #8 8x6

rockstudy #3 6x8

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

rocky knoll 6x8

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.

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.

Novarro Beach 8x6

These cliffs are just north of the Novarro River.

Irish Beach #2 10x8

Looking north from Irish Beach.

Point Arena 6x8

There's a lighthouse out here but it's all covered with tyvek and surrounded by scaffolding because it's being repaired at the moment so I decided to paint this rocky point just to the south instead.

Bear River #3 8x6

This spot is up near Colfax on Milk Ranch road. I liked the sunlit rocks in front of the darkly shadowed hillside.