From Rockpile

The finished painting "From Rockpile" 30x30 inches oil on panel.

Now that everything had been added to the painting to a certain degree, it was time to relate everything within the painting by making adjustments to the value, shapes, and color.

The lower left hand corner is the closest place in the landscape to the viewer.  It had to be the darkest, the lightest, and have the most detail.  It was also for me the most difficult part of the painting to seem realistic because of the small space it took up.

Trying to establish the atmospheric perspective by painting the land mass in the back.  By doing this I am making color and value decisions about the foreground and middle ground of the painting.

I went ahead and finished the sky to establish the light and color key for the painting.  I also was thinking in terms of the underlying dark color in the rocks, beach, and bluff.  When I am thinking about the underpainting color of an object I am also making decisions about what the top or last colors of those objects will be.

Here I thought it was important to define the coastline by painting the water that shapes it.  One of the things that I continually think about is the interaction between parts of the painting. Defining something by what it isn't.

Every painting seems to have a different start.  There may not be a huge difference in these starts and I am not sure why I do not do the same thing every time.  Sometimes I will draw the composition in a specific color.  Other times I will just block everything in or put down big shapes to "map out" the composition.

Sunset

Heisler Sunset Progression

8

I was working on a plein air painting at Heisler Park. I was grinding and chasing the light...like always.

At the end of my painting session I was blessed with an iconic Laguna sunset. I had to take that image into the studio and see what I could do with it.

The really fun paintings start fast and finish with a flurry. This had all the signs that this would be one of those paintings.

At this point I was feeling really happy about my colors,shapes and values.

One of my conscious objectives was to maintain as big a difference in values between the reflections the palm trees in the foreground.

I was able to stay patient.  There are times when I get really excited about a painting and I jump to finishing moves instead of letting the painting structure develop.

The next couple of pictures show color and value progressions in the water.

I am now adding detail in the water with color/value shifts.  I am staying true the vision I have for the painting.

The finished painting "From Dusk" 36x24 oil on gesso board.

 

Yesterday

 

Art Resume

 2023

-SOCALPAPA Back Bay Plein Air Quick Draw-First Place 

-SOCALPAPA Sage and Sea Plein Air Quick Draw-Third Place

-Tustin Art League Art Walk Plein Air Contest-Peoples Choice Award

2024

-LPAPA 8" Squared Art Show

-Randy Higbee Gallery 6" Squared Art Show

-Cal Arts League Small Things Art Show-Honorable Mention

-Quorum Gallery Representation

-LPAPA Hibert paint out honorable mention

2025

-April Showcase Gallery Group Show

-May Showcase Gallery Group Show

-Kennedy Contemporary chosen for front

 window

-Paint San Clemente 2025 & quick draw

-Laguna Art.com Gallery June

-SOCALPAPA Back Bay Plein Air Quick Draw 1st place

2026

-Judge for Sunset Beach Art Association

Two A Days

Over the years there have been days when things just clicked.  Those are the best painting days.  All of the paintings in this post were days where it all just worked out.  It enabled me to create more than one finished piece that day.

There are so many things that can go wrong when you are painting outside.  Time is usually the toughest obstacle to overcome.

I paint larger than most artists when I am plein air painting.  All of these paintings are 24x24 or 24x36 inches.  I have to really be in a groove to get multiples done on site.  I do not take them home and work on them.

One of the ways I judge my painting is by how many good decisions in a row I can I make.  Every bad decision is a mistake that has to be corrected and that takes time.

I got to the point 2 years ago where I was striving to take my plein air painting to a higher level.  This led me to the decision to bring my work out more than one painting session.  This enabled me to get a deeper level of expression.

In the past it was more about how quickly could I get painting completed and capture the essence.  Now I am trying to push my skill beyond what could with just one session.