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

Moreno Valley Sunlight

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This pastel painting is done on La Carte pastel card and measure 19"x26" and is done with soft pastel.  Like the painting before this one, the reference photo was taken while driving along the freeway.  It seems to me as we cut up our enviroment with roads or whatever, we take some of the best scenery and put it out for everyone to see if you are quick enough to notice.  But there is no time to stop and be in the landscape.  Instead the highways frame the landscapes often tearing them down the middle.

Moreno Valley

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This pastel painting is done on La Carte pastel card and measures 19"x26".  I took the reference photo for this painting as I was driving to see my sick grandfather.  The photo was taken inside the car as I was driving down the 60 freeway east at about 80 mph. 

Storm Clouds Over Yorba Linda

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This pastel painting is done on La Carte pastel card and measures 23"x29".  This location is about a half a mile from my home.  When I saw the clouds I quickly went home and got my camera and took about 20 pictures.

Oak at Sunrise

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This painting is done from reference photos taken on a hike through Chino Hills State Park.  This is one of those paintings I just wasn't equipped to paint like I wanted to.  This would have been better if I had done it as a plein air painting.  The subtle color changes and the overhanging oak branches would have turned out better if I had been there painting.

Chino Hills Spring

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This is an oil painting that measure 20"x24".  This painting is in the Chino Hills State Park facing south.  I am over looking Donner Canyon.  This oil painting is done with Old Holland paint.  The colors are amazing.  This I believe is the same paint that Van Gogh used.  The prices are pretty crazy but I accumulated quite a bit of it before I even started painting, knowing that I would paint someday in the future.  http://www.artsupplywarehouse.com/

Sunrise at Chino Hills

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This oil painting is 24"x36".  I painted this after an early morning hike into the Chino Hills State Park.  This location is on the south side leading into the park from the Green River Golf Course.  The shadows were dramatic and the wind cold as the winds swirled around me at the higher elevations.   This scene is from early December before the rains changed the hills to green.  SOLD In the collection of Bob and Cindy Leys.

Wine Country Temecula

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This oil painting measure 16"x24".  This painting is from late August in the early morning.  The clouds shapes and colors were amazing as the rising sun hit them.

Storm Clouds Over Chino Hills

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This graphite drawing is done on museum board.  This drawing measures about 15"x26".  Like the post before this one I started this drawing a couple of years ago and put it away because of how long it was taking.

Oyster Shells in Laguna

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This graphite drawing is approximately 8" x 12".  I started this drawing a couple of years ago and just finished it about a month ago.  I did not pick it up for such a long time because of the time invested to complete a drawing is so much longer than my pastels.  I have to get the feeling of accomplishment that comes with putting out a quantity of work.  I am going to try and work more graphite into my art production.  I want to do a showing with just my graphite work in the future.

Laguna Wilderness Park

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This pastel painting is done with soft pastels on pastel card.  It measures 22"x29".  This was one of those amazing clear days that I seem to be drawn to when painting.  This location is by some of my favorite subjects to paint.  What really brought me to paint this scene was the crystal clear sky with those dramatic clouds and the contrast to the washed out field.This scene is from a hike I took this past January.

Through the Trees in Caspers Park

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This pastel painting is done on pastel card and measures 29"x23".  It is done with soft pastels.  This painting is from a hike I took in Caspers Park this past summer.  I like the outcome of this painting for a number of reasons.  I like my mark making in this.  It does not have a overworked feel to it.  I also like how the atmospheric perspective turned out.  This painting is currently at my show at the Village Center in Fullerton through the end of the month.  Village Art Center art walk 11/10-3/11.  Shown at In the Light of Day show at Brea Gallery from 8/6/11-9/16/11.

Oak Tree Shadows in Caspers Park

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This painting is done on pastel card with soft pastels and measures 22"x28".  One of the big cattle ranches in Orange County turned into a park: Caspers Park is full of old oaks and sycamore trees.  The amazing light coming through the branches and the contrasting shadows underneath were what drew me to this subject.  I think a better communication of the vibrant light coming through the branches was needed.  This I think will be a really great subject for an oil painting further down the line.  I think I will also try this again as a pastel  at some point.

Tree Along the Road

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This painting is done with soft pastel on pastel card and measures 23"x29".  This painting is from a hike I took around last December in the Chino Hills State Park.  I really liked the atmospheric perspective in this painting as well as the values and color.  I wished I had done more with the tree and the large hills in the background.  I really connected with the scene and will paint this again in the future.

Field in August

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This painting is done on pastel card with a variety of soft pastels and measures 29"x22".  This painting is done from a hike through the Chino Hills State Park behind the Green River Golf Course.  It was a blazing late summer morning.  This Sycamore tree stands over the gate entering the park from the south.  This painting is currently showing at the Village Art Center in Fullerton.  My show opened on 11/5/2010 and is a group show.  It will run through the end of December.  Village Art Center Art Walk 11/10-3/11.  This painting was shown at the Brea Gallery in The Light of Day show from 8/6/11-9/16/11.

Chino Hills Sycamore in Winter

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This painting measures 19.5"x26" and is done on pastel card. This will be one of my paintings at the Fullerton Village Art Center Gallery starting Friday the 5th of November and running through December.  For me this painting represents some growth and progress as an artist.  Just like in sports for me there are times when I am in the zone.  This painting and several others around this time were paintings that seemed to step up the quality of the work I do to another level.  The key is working to stay in that zone. Village Art Center Art Walk 11/10-3/11