Corona Hills

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This pastel painting was a plein air piece I did a couple of days ago in the hills in Corona at the edge of the Cleveland National Forest.  This was the first time I painted on this surface.  The surface kind of reminded me of velour with a little more resistance to the pasel as I stroked it across the surface.  The name of the surface is called Pastel Mat http://www.pastelmat.com/ I like it enough to continue to use it.  I did think that it did not hold as many layers of pastel as velour.  I did like the feel of the texture of the surface.  I did like the ability of the surface to be covered quickly.  It did hold the pastel better than velour.  This study took about an hour and a half.  The painting measures 18"X25".  I am gearing up for a my first plein air competition coming up in January.

Morro Bay

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This painting is done on Wallis paper with soft pastels over a water color underpainting.  This painting measures 16"X24".  I let the watercolor underpainting take the middle values of the piece and kept it almost all grays.  This way I could really punch up the brilliance of the cliffs with the pastels.

Afternoon Eucalyptus Stand

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This painting is done on Colorfix paper with soft pastels.  The painting measures 18"X25".  The subject for this landscape was a eucalyptus stand of trees near Santiago Canyon.  My daughter's soccer practice didn't start on time so we went exploring nearby.

Winter Twilight In Yorba Linda



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This painting is done in oil on canvas.  This painting measures 20"X24".  This view is about a half a mile from my house on the hills by my daughter's high school.  I think I made good choices in the selection of the colors I used and their relationship to each other.  "Let your idea be not that you are doing a portrait of that place but of that time of day." -Hawthorne



Setting Sun Upon the Hills

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This painting of Chino Hills State Park is one of the more dramatic paintings I have done.  The light of this late afternoon was very intense.  This painting is of a late August afternoon.  It was the dramatic contrast of the colors in the shadows and the highlights on the hills that caught my attention.  This painting is a soft pastel over a water color underpainting.  The painting measures 27"X35".



Santa Ana River

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This plein air painting is done with soft pastels on velour paper.  This painting measures 18.5"X27'.  It was a very bright morning and the trees were backlit by the morning sun.  This stretch of the river is uncontrolled by concrete and the corps of army engineers.  About a mile down stream that all changes.

Into Coal Canyon

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This painting is soft pastel over a water color underpainting.  This painting is done on Wallis sanded paper and measures 28"X35".  This painting is the first thing you see once you walk under the 91 freeway and into Coal Canyon.  I had seen this view for years as I went to work.  I did not realize it was part of Chino Hills State Park and I did not see the entrance until I had hiked along the bike trail running from Yorba Linda to Corona.  This is one of my favorite paintings out of my recent efforts. 

Sun Upon the Hills

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This pastel painting is done on Wallis sanded paper with soft pastels over a watercolor underpainting.  This painting measures 25"X  37".   This painting is from a late afternoon hike throught Chino Hills State Park.  The shadows were growing longer by the minute and the sun was blazing on the steep face of the eroded hill in front of me. 

Coyote Hills

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This pastel painting is a plein air sketch.  This painting is done on velour paper with soft pastels.  This painting measures 18"X25".  In order to work on my quick draw skills I have been painting with time limits.  On this painting I started at 5:30pm and finished at 7pm.  The benefit is that it helps me not lose the lighting when I am painting  because I am able to paint quicker.  It also makes me pull my composition together quicker.  In looking at this painting the way the hills fall off to the left and the way the mountains follow the line of the hills on the left side of the painting is distracting.  I think a better transition from the foreground through the middle ground of the painting would give a better representation of distance.  The colors are something I can use as a study for a studio painting.

Late August Shadows in Chino Hills

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This oil painting measures 24"X36".  This painting is in the Chino Hills State Park.  It was a late afternoon and the hills were covered in warm shadows as the sun pushed through onto the different levels of fields seperated by a ravine in between.  The hills above Coal Canyon are in the background.

Below Scully Ridge

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This is a pastel painting done in the studio from a hike through Chino Hills State Park.  This pastel has a water color under painting on Wallis paper and measures 27"X35".  It was the end of August and the scrub had just lost its last bit of green.  The shadows were starting to lengthen earlier in the afternoon and the shadows were hazy with humidity.  

Newport Beach Sunset

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This painting is 14"x18" and is oil on canvas.  This is from a stay down in Newport Beach.  We went down to the beach and walked along the bike path down by 58th street.  The glow of the sunset as it lit up the water was supernatural.

Shadows on the Hills

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This pastel painting was done en plein air in the Chino Hills State Park.  It is done on velour paper with soft pastels.  The painting measures 18"x25".  The shadows that day were amazing.  The time of day and the time of the year and the atmosphere all worked together.  There might be 20 days a year that all of the elements come together like it did that day.  I felt lucky to be at the right place at the right time.

Newport Back Bay Bluff

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This is the plein air painting I did from the last entry I made.  This painting is on velour which I really like for plein air because of the ease with which I can quickly cover the surface.  It is a relatively fragile surface for holding the pastel but the number of layers it can handle is impressive.  This velour is attached to museum board which gives it a lot more stability outside.  The overall size of the painting is 18"x25".

Last Saturday the LPAPA had a paint out at the Newport back bay.  Paul Kratter was the signature artist who was there hosting the paint out.  He did a one hour demo which I missed because I was on the wrong end of Back Bay road.  I hiked in 5 miles to find the group already painting out of the backs of their cars.

There were about 10 artists who showed up for the paint out.  There was one other pastel artist.

This was the subject we all painted.  The cliffs are one of the more painted scenes in the back bay area.  Since I had traveled the whole length of Back Bay road I had the chance to scout out other painting locations. 

After four hours I was finished.  I was not the last to leave but it was getting close. I thought Paul did a good job.  He spent time with everyone.  I thought the type of advice was well considered to the skills of the painters at the paint out.  He even let one painter use his set up                                                            

Here are some pictures from the opening of "In the Light of Day".  It was a nice opening.  The curator did a good job at organizing the hanging of the paintings.  The opening was well attended and it seemed like I had a number of interested people in my work.

Laguna Canyon in October

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This pastel painting is done on Wallis paper with a soft pastels over a underpainting of watercolor.  The painting measures 24"x34".  I was inspired by the more visible shape of the sycamore trees and their foliage.

Afternoon Tide

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This painting is done on Wallis paper with an underpainting of watercolor.  This painting measures 24"x34" and is completed with a finshed application of soft pastel.  This painting is at Salt Creek.  This painting demonstrates some of the growth I have made as an artist in the last year.  I did an earlier version of this painting which at the time represented my current level of skill.  I think the biggest growth is in my handling of the color and value of the painting.

Black Star Canyon Oak

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This pastel painting is done on Wallis sanded paper with a water color underpainting.  This painting measures 18"x24" and is done with soft pastels over the under painting.  I feel like I have made a break through in the quality of light that I am capturing.  In addition I am happy with the values in my paintings at this time.  It seemed like I was stuck with these dark paintings.  It was a morning around 9am when I took the reference photos for this painting.

Santa Ana Canyon Eucalyptus

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This painting is from a trip through Santiago Canyon in the morning a week ago.  This painting is done on Wallis sanded paper and mearsures 24"x18".  It has a water color underpainting with a soft pastel finish.  The sun and shadows in the foreground was what initailly attracted me to this subject.  I also liked the quality of the sky through the eucalyptus trees.

In the Light of Day

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This is the show card for the upcoming show that I will be participating in.  I have been outside painting a lot lately.  I dropped off my paintings on my birthday and got a preview of the show.  My daughter and I walked around looking for a spot to set my paintings down.  There  are couple of people I look forward to seeing at the show's opening. Rick Delanty http://delantyfineart.com/

Temecula Mountain View

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This is a soft pastel painting over a watercolor underpainting.  It measures 24"x 36".  It is done on Wallis sanded paper.  This painting is from an early morning trip I made around the area.  I want to go back and paint the wine country when I get a chance.

Summer Sycamore Trees in Caspers Park

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This painting is done on Wallis sanded paper with an underpainting of water color with. The finishing of the painting was done with soft pastels.  The painting measures 24"x36".  This painting was based off of reference photos from a hike I took in mid summer. 

Late Afternoon in San Clemente Canyon

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This painting is done with soft pastels on Wallis paper with a water color underpainting.  The painting measures 24"x36".  The underpainting on this pastel like some of my more recent work is very detailed compared to my past efforts.  I think this painting really captures the mood and the feeling of this place for me. 

Santiago Canyon

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This painting is done on La Carte pastel paper with soft pastels.  It measures 23"x29".  The day I was in the Canyon the skies were brilliant.  The skies were so clear and crisp.  Everything had a certain kind of sparkle.  The depth of the sky somehow seemed deeper than I had ever seen it.

Afternoon Beach Winds

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This painting is on La Carte pastel card and measures 19"x 26".  This subject was given to me by friends Steph and Kerri Simpson.  In the collection of Stephanie and Kerri Simpson

Steph and Kerri's View

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This painting is done on La Carte pastel paper with soft pastels and measures 23"x29".  Our friends Steph and Kerri go to Hawaii every year.  They brought back this picture from a trip and Steph asked me to paint it.  I like this one but think I could make it better if it was lighter.  I think I will try this one with an underpainting of water color with pastels on top on sanded Wallis paper.  In the collection of Stephanie and Kerri Simpson.

 

Plein Air Acceptance

I recieved notice today that I will be in the show.  I will have all three of my submissions entered into the show.  I am not going to lie I am pretty excited!

At the Top of Chino Hills

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This is an oil painting on canvas.This painting is 22"x28".  This painting is of the Chino Hills at about 7am in January.  I had climbed to the tops of the hills and faced North towards the San Gabriel Mountains.  We had not had any rain yet so the hills were still very dry.  The shadows cast by the morning sun and the sunlight striking the hills through the distance were breath taking.



Early Spring in Chino Hills

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This painting is done on Wallis paper and measures 26"x34".  It is painted with a water color underpainting with soft pastels.  This painting is mapped on panaramio at http://www.panoramio.com/user/4907141

Clouds Over Black Gold

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This painting is done on Wallis sanded paper (Belgium Mist) with a water color underpainting and finished off with soft pastels.  This painting was done from a reference photo taken less than a mile from my house.  The foreground is a local golf course called Black Gold. http://blackgoldgolf.com/  The painting measures 26"x34".  I like the range of values in this painting and in particular I like that it is not too dark.  I am currently working to make my paintings more representational of the values as I encounter them.  My wife is constantly telling me my paintings are too dark.

Through the Sycamores in Capsers Park

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This painting is on Wallis paper with a water color underpainting and an overlay of soft pastels.  The painting measures 26"x34".  This scene is from the middle of summer in the early afternoon.  The sun was beating down and the heat was brutal.



Shadowed Hay Bales in Irvine Park

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This painting is of hay bales under a sycamore tree and in shadow was a challenge for me.  Seperating the shadows on the ground from the shadows on the hay bales and how they wrapped around the hay bales to show their form and the color of the hay bales vs the ground was what was difficult for me.  This is one of those paintings that I would like to do again and see if I could do it better next time.  This painting is done with soft pastels and is painted on La Carte pastel paper.  This painting measures 23"x29".

Last Light Over The Mountains

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This painting is done on Wallis paper and measures 28"x36".  It is done with a water color underpainting with soft pastel.  The vista was from a hill right behind my house looking towards the Cleveland National Forest.

Laguna Canyon Wilderness Park

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This painting is an oil which measures 36"x24".  These trees were perched above the trail leading up into the hills.  The vista from the top had a 180 degree view showing Mount Saddleback to the east and downtown Laguna just around the hills at the end of the 133.

Panoramio

I started using this google maps application which allows me to post pictures I have taken and placed them on a map of the world.  I am posting reference photos I have taken and turned into paintings.  http://www.panoramio.com/  This link is also on my home page of this blog under favorite links.

Creativity

I have been painting for a while now.  I have only gotten "serious" in the last four years.  What I mean by "serious" is working to get better and better in the quality of my work.  I am working on all aspects of my craft.  I am studying, trying new techniques, working different mediums, to name but a few of the ways I am trying to get better.  My style is evolving and I think I am getting better.  One thing I don't think I am working on is my creativity.  I think I take my creativity for granted.  I have read hundreds of articles in magazines and books about artists running into various forms of creative blockage.  Is this something I am going to run into in the future?  I hope not.
After reading another article about how to get out of the creativity funk; I stopped to think about my creativity.  It seems I am always thinking about my painting when I am not thinking about something else.  I am thinking about possible subjects, paintings I am working on, amazing colors, places I want to go to paint- it just goes on and on.                                                                                                                                  I think that my creativity is something that is and always has been inside me.  I think that my painting has become one of the consistent ways in which I express this creativity.  I think that painting is a form of excercise for my creativity and the more I practice the better I become at using it.  I think this whole discussion of the use of the left side or the right side of the brain is a matter of choice and practice.  I think the blockage of creativity in artists and their struggle to let their creativity flow is a matter of choice by the artist.
My creativity expresses itself best when I am focused.  I never think about anything besides what I am doing at the moment when I am thinking about creating or when I am actively creating.  I am sure that at a deeper level some other thoughts are happening. but they don't seem to surface.  When I am creating, my main thoughts are about how to best demonstrate my thoughts through the use of my materials and technique.  However, these thoughts of technique flow in an almost unconcious manner.  My skill or lack of it influences the outcome of the mental part of my creativity.  It is my ability to focus and to not become distracted from my thoughts and their actions that allows me to take my creativity to different levels.  It kind of feels like the differrent levels of sleep you experience.  When I am in my creative thinking process and I am not actively engaged through painting, my thoughts move around.  The act of painting focuses my creativity.  When I am engaged in creative thinking, I often become reflective about myself.

The above statements about my creativity may be right or wrong.  They seem right to me.  If they are true for others to a certain extent, then it seems to me that this creative block is more about the inability to focus, concentrate, and open up to the flow coming from your mind than anything else.

California Art Club

As a member of the California Art Club, I was given the opportunity to update my profile.  Here is the link to the California Art Club.  http://www.californiaartclub.org/membership/associate-artist