When I am painting in the field I photograph the paintings on site but the quality is not that great. Every couple of months I go back and photograph them in the studio so that I can get a better record of my efforts. This painting measures 24"X 36". It is a pastel painting on plywood with an under painting of acrylic paint and pumice gel.
This painting measures 28"X 56". I was playing golf out in Rancho Mirage with some friends. After we made the turn and ended up on the tee box of the tenth, this is the vista that was in front of us. I was glad I had brought my camera with me. There is no way I could have painted this from memory. I thought this canvas size was perfect for the scope of this landscape. I really like to paint larger when ever possible. It really allows me to explore the composition and color to a greater degree.
This oil painting was done based off of reference photos I took while hiking in the canyon. As an artist, I listen and read about the purity of painting from life, not painting from photographs, and various versions of what is right. The fact is I love to paint and I want to paint well. Everything has it's time and place. This is all part of my development. The next stage of my development is a focus on oil painting; both inside the studio and en plein air. This painting measures 42"X 48" and is on canvas.
I found the original reference photographs.
I found some Kitty Wallis paper which I had bought a couple of years ago. I had bought a 9 yard roll of professional grade paper. Production of the paper has ceased and was scarce.
I measured out the size and cut down the paper. I taped them down to some foam core.
I then selected the water color pallet I would use for both paintings.
I then laid down the water color as a initial sketch focusing on the colors, the values, and the placement of elements in the landscape.
I worked from one painting to the next at each step in the process.
I put down about three washes of water color before I started to apply my pastels.
As I added color with pastel to each painting, I made sure to set the colors aside.
I made sure work both paintings with the same colors. When I had worked a specific group of colors in one area of a painting, I then worked the other with the same group of colors.
I only used the reference photographs in the creation of the new versions of the originals. I did not reference my painting process to the originals. I did not want to second guess the decision making process. I believed that using the reference photographs and the originals would eliminate some of freshness of approach needed to create a cohesive work.
The customer wanted both paintings to be in the same color vein. The customer liked the pallet used in Coal Canyon and wanted Laguna Niguel to use the same colors. The two new works were to be companion pieces.
Coal Canyon 19.5" X 25".
