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".