Dense Fog at Little Corona

Last week I went painting down at Little Corona Del Mar.  The fog created beautiful effects and atmospheric perspective.  The challenge of painting the light as it is changing is at times difficult; but trying to start and finish a fog painting is crazy!  By the time I had walked up to my car and get my painting set up the fog had already burned off to a significant extent.  I really like this composition.  I have never painted the effects of fog.  I think this has the potential to be a really great painting.  My oil painting has really improved in the last month so I am going to do a pretty large studio painting of this subject.  I am going to try and take my time to capture all of the subtle aspects.  I am not sure yet how I will handle the diffusion of light along the edge of the cliffs.  The transition from the blue by the top to the gray lavender at the bottom will be a challenge.

Painting in Corona Del Mar

The morning was so foggy it was hard to see any detail.  The fog burned off, the wedding was over and done, and the sun lit up the rocks.



I brought a blue ground panel with me after I came down and scouted around while taking some reference photos.  I had made a couple of orange pumice gel panels that I was thinking of using but the fog seemed to thick to use them.

I had to limit my subject because there were so many choices.  The shape of my panel changed my choices.  The intensity of the light on the rocks enhanced the atmospheric perspective when compared to the graying caused by the haze burning off in the distance.

Painting in the hills of Corona

I got out to the hills to paint around 10am. The hills were backlit and the temperature was climbing fast.  I was painting on masonite with pumice gel and acrylic paint.

This is my initial sketch that I worked from.

I really liked the feeling of light that came through in the painting.  However, I was not happy with the composition.  I did not feel like I got enough of the hills in.  I decided at this point I will do a quick sketch to solidify my composition.  I liked the size of the hills but not the way they were set upon the surface.

Plein Air Coal Canyon

I parked and walked into Coal Canyon State Park.  It was 2 miles to get to my spot.  The weather was still hot.  It got up to about 100.

I really like this location because of the atmospheric perspective.  I also like the rhythm of the hills in the background at this location.  I also like the patterns and color of the sage and buckwheat in the foreground.

I brought my new carbon fiber tripod which is very easy to use and some new Terry Ludwig pastels which I have not had a chance to work into my Heilman box.  My surface is a 24"X36" piece of masonite with Golden Pumice Gel and acrylic paint.

Plein Air Coal Canyon

One of my biggest opportunities with my set up is the amount of stuff I bring to paint.  These extra boxes of pastels are difficult to carry around-so I will merge them into my pastel box.  After a year of painting with these sticks in my box I am going to change up the mix in my box. 

I have started using a preliminary sketch before starting my painting.  In the past my composition has been a bit of a crap shoot-in that I have not brought all of the elements of the subject into the painting. 

Plein Air Coal Canyon

Plein Air Coal Canyon

The Elements of Drawing

This is the newest art book in my collection.  The Elements of Drawing by Ruskin.  I think this is a first edition from 1865.  I am excited to get started on this one but I have to finish The Elements of Compostion by Payne.

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.

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.

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".

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.

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.