I am so glad to be back in the groove after getting moved into my new studio. The SCIART Studios have so much energy. I hope to see many new faces wondering through the studios now that we have all come together into one place. Not since my college days have I been in an environment with so much creative life swirling around me. Its inspiring and hopeful. Now… to get to work and start painting. Well, earlier last week I did just that. I started on Monday in Dave Gallup’s studio and got my feet wet with a small still-life study. Then on Tuesday, I went out with a group to the Limonera Ranch where we all found a little niche to sit a while and find our peace with the scenery. I came up with this roadway between a small creek and an eucalyptus lined orange orchard. It was a great way to get my new studio life started… outdoors!
While spending a week soaking up the sun, making new friends and eating sparsely from my ice chest, I also painted at the San Onofre surf beach. I want to share one of the images here called “Two for the Show.” When I asked Jack, my VW man what year the red bus was, he says “Its obviously a 71, you got it all there.” The blue one is mine, which is a 77. Fun times spent at San Onofre.
So the theme of the week is San Onofre. Here Is a collection of what’s been happening so far for the Paint San Clemente event. I’ll tighten the bus painting soon.
The Ventura County chapter of the California Art Club hosted their monthly paint-out at El Matador State Beach this morning. I know… its LA County, but whateveh! I think I was the first one there at 9am, but soon there were about 15 of along the beach and up and down the cliff-side. When I arrived at the beach, there was already one occupant… a yoga instructor shooting a series of videos doing her poses. She continued as I set up. Once we both got into our own rhythms, we were able to focus on our own tasks, but it was nice to have someone on the beach with me.
After the painting was finished, I hauled my gear back up the cliffside and had lunch with several other artists. As a special bonus, Sharon Kaiser was available to critique people’s paintings during the lunch hour. It is always good to get feedback from other esteemed artists. Thanks all for a great morning. I needed that. Below are a couple more views…
So, I had a very nice week to paint in and around San Luis Obispo with a few artists from the California Art Club. The weather was nice, but scattered showers caused the fair weather artists to stay indoors. I did a total of 5 plein air studies and a still life. I stayed with Mom for the week. When I called her a few weeks ago to see if she was going to be around during this week, she asked me if I could come up there because she had a one week vacation scheduled. Perfect timing. I love it when that happens… synchronicity. So, I got some painting in, did some chores around the house for her, and visited with family. All in all, it was a very wonderfully relaxing week for me. I pushed off a lot of business until this coming week, so I will be working full-bore to catch up, but it was def worth it.
So, what I got here now, is the still life I did for my sister. She has been asking to paint her a “flower painting” for many years. Well, I don’t do flowers, but her birthday is next week, and outdoor painting was rainy, so… I did this for her. I added a cup and saucer that was painted by great-grandma Dee around 1900. Click HERE for a large close-up of the tea cup.
I think I might be on to something new for me. Still life paintings from heirlooms. I brought home some trinkets from around Mom’s house that I will be painting in the weeks and months ahead. I have not done many still lifes. This intrigues me. So, since I did a lot of duck hunting with my Dad growing up, I have some things that will do nicely as a memento to this; A set of duck calls, shot gun shells, his favorite hunting hat which still has some tail feathers from a drake mallard, and a wooden duck decoy. I also from my mom, I have an old candy dish from her grandmother, a small metal metal bank in the shape of an elephant and some old marbles. Then there is an old deep-sea fishing reel, some old fishing lures and a fillet knife. Some great raw-material for summer studies in the studio.
So, I took an old plein air painting I did at Leo Carillo a couple years ago, and redid it. I was not happy the first time anyway, so it was a good opportunity to try some new paint out. You can see the change from the first go, to the new version below.
So, I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to do an experiment today. An experiment in pure color. No black and only a small bit of white. Lots of cleaning and wiping the brush. No purple tainted with cad yellow. Bright pure color. I went to a government owned overlook near Point Mugu, with this nice meandering waterway in the midst of the slough. I started painting the scene with about 70 minutes of sunlight left. So, away I went. Here is what I came up with in that short time.
I have been painting again. This weekend I was with a fantastic colorist and impressionistic painter David Gallup. It was a wonderful time of conversation, philosophy and most of all COLOR. It was a real eye opener for me about using paint that I have never had on my palate. He is really one of the modern masters of color. More on that to come…
Below is a small closeup that shows the interesting color that can happen with wet sand. The first image is the closeup of a plein air study that I did using close to actual color of wet sand. (full original) Below that, is a close-up of a second painting, using all of the same colors, but separated out. With a few steps back, the colors blend, but the overall “color” is mixed and becomes the same as the original study. Dave tells me “Why paint gray wet sand color when you can have FUN painting sand with color?” {Things that make you say “hmmmm”…. }
I left knowing that I had taken a first big step into an unknown journey up the mountain. We have to take bold steps and make intentional brush strokes with color… with confidence… with intention, but none of it can happen without first taking a step. I am reminded of an old Goethe quote that I have used before on my BLOG about starting a thing and moving forward… He says “What you can do, or dream you can do, begin it; Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” Paint your future with boldness. Make the first steps and start the journey.
I will work out the painting for a few weeks (or longer) and will eventually post the final painting, but know this… some new things are on the horizon. I have started to climb the mountain.
So, now that I am back, I can post some photos of my last three days of painting with Ryan Wurmser and a few new friends. Each day Ryan started with his demo as we watched, learned and took notes… mental or otherwise. Then after lunch we would be off on our own to apply what we gleaned. Our first day was Malibu Creek State Park. Beautiful and sunny. Secondly we went to my favorite beach to paint at, Leo Carrillo. There is PLENTY to paint. The same scene changes so quickly throughout the day. To watch the changes in the water is fascinating. Then the third day we were off to Peter Strauss Ranch.
Each location had its challenges to overcome. Wonderful light that moved across the sky on one day turned into a sun that played peek-a-boo behind the clouds another. I have never posted any location photos, but I do so here to share some things. First, look at the photos of the knoll in the first set. Notice how much the light has changed in the three hours from the beginning and end of my painting time. Its impossible to paint so quickly in such a complicated scene. So, you must pick out parts to highlight and hold on to the values in your head… which I had a problem with.
For me, the take-away to this weekend was a stronger sense of composition. Ryan showed us many sketches of various compositional possibilities in the same scene. He would ask “What’s the story here” and then show how each sketch had something different to say about the scene. Good work Ryan!! So, here are my sketches.
Click the first image to start the slide show…
A quote
I would love to live like a river flows
Carried by the surprise of its own unfolding
~ John O’Donohue
I am so glad to be back in the groove after getting moved into my new studio. The SCIART Studios have so much energy. I hope to see many new faces wondering through the studios now that we have all come together into one place. Not since my college days have I been in an environment with so much creative life swirling around me. Its inspiring and hopeful. Now… to get to work and start painting. Well, earlier last week I did just that. I started on Monday in Dave Gallup’s studio and got my feet wet with a small still-life study. Then on Tuesday, I went out with a group to the Limonera Ranch where we all found a little niche to sit a while and find our peace with the scenery. I came up with this roadway between a small creek and an eucalyptus lined orange orchard. It was a great way to get my new studio life started… outdoors!
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