Morning at Leo Carillo

Here is a photo of my view at Leo this morning. Painting on site is often a challenge but it is always a joy. Even when a painting is not a success, look where it was created

A few weeks ago, I flew to New Mexico and painted around Santa Fe. What a great part of the world the Southwest is. In the coming weeks I will be traveling up highway 395 to capture the fall leaves around Mono, Mammoth and June lakes. Then in November I’ll be going to Sedona. I love my job!

Art Classes Offered by Rich

Below is a list of current offerings for art instruction. Unless otherwise noted, all classes are held in my studio, B4. Please contact me if you are interested in signing up. Additionally, if these times or days don’t work for you, contact me and lets see if we can work on other times. HIGHSCHOOLERS AND HOMESCHOOLERS: I am also working on schedules with some new students now. Contact me if you are interested in knowing more about getting involved in additional classes not listed below.

Oil Painting
(Uninstructed, ongoing) Tuesdays 3-6pm

Fees
$225 for 5-week session.
For an additional $25 per 5-week session, all painting materials can be supplied.

Drawing Class
(10 weeks beginning January 19, 2012)
Wednesdays 5:30-8:30p or, Thursdays 6-9p

The way we see the world shapes our world-view and how we approach life and our relationships. The ability to “see” is one of the most important aspects of creating a drawing. Developing the art of observation will be the principal aspect of this class. We will be learning to gaze at a subject, discovering relationships between shapes, looking for subtle shifts in light and shadow, composition, perspective and many other tools for creating an accurate rendering of any subject. With graphite in hand, we will be working on class projects, and will also be asked to follow-up each week in your sketch journal.

Fees
$300 for 10-week course.
$45 materials fee (Drawing pad, pencil set, kneaded eraser, text book)

Figure Workshops
(Uninstructed, ongoing) Thursdays 7-10p in Studio A4

Join us on Tuesday nights to draw or paint. We will usually begin with gesture warm-up poses for the first 25 minutes, then 25-minute long poses for remainder of night. Every 3 or 4 weeks, we do a single long pose all night. We start at precisely 7:01 so get there beforehand to set-up and do a meet-n-greet and get a cup of something to drink. Nude models. Drawing horses, drawing boards tables and chairs are provided. If you want to use an easel, bring one.

$15 if you drop-in. $60 for 5-workshop pass

My studio is located at

Studio Channel Islands Art Center
2222 Ventura Blvd, B4
Camarillo, CA 93012

San Onofre

Ive been camping and getting some sun out at San Onofre all week while painting for this years annual “Paint San Clemente” event. Here are two of the paintings I have managed to complete this week. It’s been cold and densely overcast, which makes waiting for the sun, much like waiting for Godot.

Today I must change camping spots do that will take up part of the day to tear down camp and get set back up again. Once done I will go out and try one more time to do a painting that I like better to turn in by the Saturday deadline.

Gaviota bluffs

Morning Woods

So, I am working BIG. this is the progress on a painting I have waited for about six months to work out. It’s only the first of what will likely be more paintings inspired from the Redwoods. “Morning Woods” is 48″ tall by 38″ wide painting featuring the Giant Sequoia. The big trunk on the left is still a bit too dominate and I love how the green is beginning to get floated in at the top. The green moss-y-ness at the at the foot of the trunk helps pull it all together with the green of the background. The many colors in the trunk also give the entire painting a broad range of interesting color that works well with the limited greens and other cools that inhabit the painting.

Gaviota Sundown

The Gaviota Hot Springs was my destination. I have wanted to paint there for a long time. It was a beautiful day so I decided to go on a drive. I got to Gaviota Hot Springs at midday. It was a bit of a hike up a steep muddy trail and I was winded by the time I got to the springs. (Note to self; get some exercise dude!) There were two gray-headed gentleman sitting in the pool when I arrived there who had already been there for a couple hours. After a short chat I joined them. The temp was not hot at all, in fact it was luke warm. Around 80 degrees. Bubbling up from volcanic activity was the distinct odor of sulfur. The minerals are said to heal. So, I stayed in and talked about Costa Rica, art, snakes and vanilla beans for about half an hour and noticed that the sun was about gone from the canyon. I wanted to get a painting in before I went home, so I hopped out and dried off. When I got dressed again, I headed back down the mountain. When I got to the trail-head by the parking lot, I looked back up the hill and this magnificent tree was waving goodbye to me and the sun as it went down.

I got in the car and headed south on Highway 101. While watching the sun go down, I knew it would soon be completely gone. I was compelled to do something about it before ASAP. I stopped the car and ran out to the top of the cliffs above Gaviota State Beach to capture the last of the sun before going behind the horizon. So, there I was painting… and the quick 20-minute study you see here was sold right off the easel from a guy that saw me painting from below. He approached me and wanted it so… SOLD! I guess timing is everything, right!? Anthony is here from Salt Lake City and visiting some friends along the coast. He told me that this painting would be a reminder of his dad whose final resting place is just about where the sun is setting there… near Prince Island in San Miguel island’s Cuyler Harbor.

I was happy to have sold this to someone so spontaneously, but the bummer was since it was dark when I finished it, I had no photo. Luckily, he was heading from Santa Barbara to Orange County so I had a chance to take the shot when he stopped by my studio this morning.

I will definitively be going back there soon to do another painting. The tree on the top-right of the picture has a HUGE collection of some large long-necked birds roosting there for the night. Cormorants perhaps? I want to do another painting with the tree as subject… soon