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Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Painting In Chino Hills

I got started late.  The temp. was about 100.  I entered the park just off of Ridge Crest which is about 3 blocks from my house.  I walked into the park about 100 yards and set up.

I created a surface on masonite with pumice gel and some red acrylic paint.  It just felt like the color to paint on this afternoon. 





The surface was 24"X30".  The shadows raced into the canyon and hills lit up with the last hour of daylight.  The tall grasses in the foreground were tall and blocked my view.  Hikers and mountain bikers were accomodating as I was painting on a trail that was no wider than 3'.

The painting far from done but thats what you get when you paint large and start late.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Painting in Santiago Canyon

It has been very hot recently.  It is either the morning, the evening, or the beach.  I did not get to start painting till about five in the afternoon.  I was painting on masonite with pumice gel and acrylic paint for the tone.  With so little time there is no going back.  Although I was painting on a surface 24"X36"; I could have used another foot in the width.  My compostion missed the valley fading off into the distance and the highlights on the oaks as they faded into the atmosphere.  This painting was all about adjustments to what did not go as I planned.  When I look at this painting I see all of the mistakes that I wish I could have avoided.  However, there is enough truth in the painting to remember what it was like in the canyon.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Pelican Point at Crystal Cove

Looking South from Pelican Point

Heisler Park Looking South at Sunset

Smith Lake

Crescent Bay Rocks

Sycamore Shadows Two

Old Oak in Irvine Park

Black Star Canyon

Santiago Canyon Oak

Sycamores at Dusk in Irvine Park

This painting was inspired by the Irvine Park. This studio painting was the result of several trips to the park during the winter.  The dusk changed the colors of the trees as the sun got lower on the horizon.  The long shadows ran into the wilderness.  The last foliage hung on the branch as the warm summer like evening lit them up.  This pastel painting is done on  La Carte pastel card and measures 23"X29".

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Two a Days at Heisler Park

It was about 85 at the beach and I started painting around noon.  The tide was out and the sun was brilliant.  The shadows were really crisp.  There are places you could go to every day and find something new.  The subject matter is iconic here.  This is one of those subjects that everyone in the area has painted one time or another.  This painting measures 24"X36".  It is a pastel painting on masonite with pumice gel and acrylic paint.
This was the second painting of the day.  The previous painting of the sandstone boulders is to the left of these rocks.  I will come back to get both of these elements into the same painting.  This painting measures 24"X24".  As in the previous painting this one is done on masonite with pumice gel and acrylic paint.  This is the best two paintings that I have done in the same day.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Winter Sycamores in Irvine Park

This pastel painting was done in the studio.  It measures 12"X24".  It was done on Wallis sanded paper with a watercolor underpainting.  This park has some of the oldest and largest sycamore trees that I have come upon.  This park has been around since 1909 and has been used by many plein air painters such as William Wendt.  The shape and color of these trees is what drew me to them.  They are each unique and seem to possess their own personality.

Crescent Bay

This plein air pastel measures 24"X36" and was done a couple of weeks ago at Crescent Cove in Laguna Beach.  This is the north facing end of the beach.  This is one of those paintings that grow on you.  When I first painted this I was not too happy with it but the more I reviewed it the better I liked it.  The light on the sandstone cliffs turned out nicely.  I also really liked the silhouette of the cliffs against the sea and sky. 

Laguna Canyon Oak

This pastel painting is done on birch plywood with a ground of pumice gel and blue acrylic paint.  The painting measures 24"X36".  I saw this scene the week before when I went painting and decided the next time I was down in the area I would paint it.  I parked about a mile and a half away though.  I could have parked in the Big Bend Wilderness Area and been right there.  So I packed my 40 pounds of gear to the site.  I really liked the contrast of the blue ground with the color of the dry grass on the hills.  I let the ground show through as shadows in the grass and also in the shadowed areas of the oak tree.