SOCALPAPA at Newport Back Bay

I really like SOCALPAPAwww.socalpapa.com because they have a paint out every Friday.  We were painting this past Friday at Newport Back Bay in preparation for their upcoming show in July.

I met a fellow pastel artist.  Her name is Jean Choi. http://jeanchoifineart.com  She is the person on the left in the photo.  She said that there was only one other pastel artist in the group who paints plein air.

Santa Ana River

This painting measures 24"X36" and is painted on masonite treated with pumice gel and acrylic paint.  The colors of the hills in the distance were what originally caught my interest.  As a painter in Southern California it is not often you get a chance to paint a river.  This river is about 2 miles from my house.  Where I painted from the bridge marks the spot where the river starts to look natural.  On the other side the Army Corps of Engineers has cemented the banks of the river.  As a plein air painter I am interested in capturing an unspoiled landscape.  Every day the natural environment is eroded by the encroachment of man.  I wish that man was so short sighted.

Tide Coming in at Rockpile

The Other Side of Rockpile

This painting measures 24"X36".  It is painted on masonite with acrylic paint and pumice gel.  It was painted plein air at Heisler Park

Places I have been

Over the last couple of weeks I have done a number of paintings in Heisler Park in Laguna Beach.  As I am painting it always seems like a couple of pastels get away from me and I end up stepping on them.  As I went to find a spot the other day I noticed all of the spots I had painted based on the pastel ground into the asphalt.

Litlle Corona Sunset

 

This oil painting measures 36"X48".  The combination of the rocks and the sea in their shapes and colors was the alure of this composition.  This is my 500th post!

Rockpile and Palms

Rockpile and Palms

Rockpile and Palms

Me, Myself, and Irene

 

The Friday paint out for SOCALPAPA was to meet at Alliso beach at 9am.  I was there ahead of schedule and waited and waited.  Everytime a car would pull up I thought it would be a painter.  Eventually a painter showed up and we introduced ourselves.  We were supposed to meet on the south side of the beach but the light and the shadows were better facing Montage so we set up on the north side of the beach.

The square board presented compositional issues because of the distance I was from the subject.

 

I chose a green board based on the color of the sea.  I thought it would better represent the color of the ocean when I added the blues.  I had started doing my initial drawing in red.  This was based on the advice of William Morris Hunt's  "On Drawing and Painting".

Me, Myself, and Irene

When working on this painting I wanted to reduce the amount of drawing in the beginning so that I could add the detail at the end and not overwork the painting.

The line of the shore in the compostion was a challenge in that I wanted to have a certain amount of the bluffs in the picture and show the shore receding in the distance.

Capturing the form of the water has been a focus for me.  I want to catch an interesting moment but I seem to keep painting the water as it breaks upon the shore.  All the parts of the water work together with the incoming tide so it is not just a matter of painting a wave.  When that interesting wave is happening what is the water doing everywhere else at that moment.  That is the challenge.  If I paint just the wave then what about the truth of the rest of the water's movement?

Wave Damage

Towards the end of my painting, a wave caught me by surprise and got into my pastel box.  My easel was steady but some of my pastels got wet.

It turns out that salt water and pastels don't mix.  The next day when I was painting, the pastels that got wet disintegrated in my hand.

In this picture you can see that the wave went past where I was painting.  I also like comparing the color of the water in the painting vs. the ocean.

Aliso Beach Blue

This painting measures 24"X24".  It is done on a masonite board with acrylic paint and pumice gel.  The water was the color of a dream.  This is one of those paintings that all I can see is how I would make it better next time.

Warm Day at Big Bend

 

This painting measures 24"X24".  It is painted on masonite with acrylic paint with pumice gel as the underpainting.  I painted this with a group from SOCALPAPA on my way to the beach.

Painting with Saim

 

We met at Heisler Park at 9am.  Saim came drifting in, stopping along the way trying to take in all the possibilities for his painting.  He framed it in with his hands in between sips from his coffee.  As he greeted a couple of people he opened up his box and then started painting.  There was no preliminary drawing.

He quickly drew in the major elements of his painting and established the rocks in the water as the center of interest.  He spoke about the oppostion of light vs. dark, warm vs. cool colors, and large vs. small shapes.  The choices and diversity of the choices were what created an effective painting.  He made a point to stop and relax for a moment.  Saim made a point to tell us it is important to stop and breathe, to relax, to reflect, to step away and look at your painting to understand what is needed and where it is going.

Saim continued to refine his painting.  He made a point to evaluate the differences in the values, the colors, the shapes, and the warmth of the colors.  At this point I had to start painting.  I had a large surface and I did not have a lot of time-the meter was running and I only had two and a half hours left.  After a while Saim came over.  I asked his advice and he gave it to me.  He came a little while later and was very complimentary about my painting.  He said my painting style was exciting, dynamic, energetic, with a unique style.  As he patted me on the back he said keep up the great work.  WOW! How good did that feel.

Temescale Valley











Painting in the Temescal Valley

Painting in the Temescal Valley

Inspiration Point

Inspiration Point

Quick Draw at Heisler Park

I have not had the best luck when painting in Laguna in the past year.  I have had 2 parking tickets in Laguna in the last year.  So eventhough I was only a hundred feet from the car while painting, I was concerned about finishing my painting within the three hours my change bought me.  I had three minutes to spare.

Finding the Subject

As a plein air painter, we are always looking for the next location.  Often that means travelling far from home and looking for exotic locations.  This location is something that I have driven by about 10 times a week for 17 years.