alla prima – over another painting. why does this work more frequently than when painting on a blank canvas?? Maybe it’s more freeing, since you feel like the original, no matter how hard you worked on it, wasn’t working and so whatever you do will be better than ditching the canvas? It still needs a little work, but I like the rough and fresh quality of it, so hope not to ruin that. Wish me luck!
a carpenter from Elk, California who has worked on boat projects as well. The right paper helps! This portrait was easier to work on than the last one. I was wanting to try lots of detail in the hair, but set the drawing up too small for that.
The Pacific Ocean feels giant all along the coast south of Carmel. Maybe it’s the mountains alongside which partly give it scale.
This painting will go into the Arts Benicia member show next week, I hope you can join me at the reception!
Reception is Saturday, January 26, 6:00-8:00 pm
at Arts Benicia Gallery
991 Tyler St. Suite 114, Benicia CA 94510
—how to pronounce the name of this park:
put together two short sounds: gara + pata
faces 50, 51, 52
Weekend Warriors – 2-day portrait workshop. Randy is a great teacher – relaxed but informative and supportive. I find his work inspiring, wonderful images capturing a feeling of a place without being slavishly detailed, and lots of luscious brushwork.
These are two sketches and a full-day portrait which I did over this intensive weekend. I scrubbed one. It’s good to throw paintings over sometimes, it makes it easier to abandon those which aren’t going in the intended direction. Don’t hang on – move forward!!
While painting along the Russian River recently, I headed out to the coast with a couple of friends, specifically to go to Goat Rock. It had been predicted to be gloriously sunny, but in reality it was socked-in, dense coastal fog. We continued towards the rock, but couldn’t see it until getting right up close to it! (This is a large rock!!) My friends headed back inland to Bodega, but I waited for the fog to clear. The visibility actually went down as denser fog rolled in, so I decided to try painting something small and nearby. I found a nice jumble of lichen-covered rocks near the road. On one, a bush’s dry twigs curling around like an enveloping hand, with tiny, red-leafed brambles amongst caught my eye (hey, writers can take liberties too!). Loosely following the form of the objects, I followed my whims and tried to enjoy the process. It wasn’t cold, there were few people around, it was pleasant. The painting is almost evenly divided between fog and land, and appears black and white, but there are actually colors! I like the idea of going a bit abstract, though it may be sort of dark…?
I could have posted about this sooner, but I’ve been super-busy with family in town, and, getting ready for these events!
Scene on the Straight —after a year hiatus, has returned. It is in an all-day (10 am to 5 pm) event which raises funds to hire underserved youth to restore regional wildlife habitat areas. A good cause. I am participating with the Joules, a local group of plein-air painters. Scene on the Straight website. I will have oil paintings and 6 miniatures (watercolors). Located at Martinez Regional Shoreline, Martinez. ONE DAY ONLY!
Valona Paintout 2014 —an invitational paint-out event. What is a paint-out, you ask? A paint-out is a challenge to produce a painting (or 3!) in a specified period of time, in this case, a week. The canvasses or paper are stamped by the gallery at check-in, and you are set on the loose in a certain area to capture something about that locale. There is an upcoming history article about Strendzel Hall coming up, so I tried my hand at making an old, fairly plain-looking building which has been through numerous remodels, look interesting. The C&H Sugar factory is located in Crockett, which sort of encompasses the old town of Valona, and it has many industrial but some beautiful structures. I heard from a local that these giant tanks topped by a continuous tin warehouse was a steam generator for the sugar plant. I thought they were kind of awesome. (Ok, I know my taste is sometimes odd!). This was a funny view, too, because of the proximity of this quaint little Victorian house which has a tiny, octagonal room hanging out over the street. (other people are odd too! Would you build right next to a steam generator of this size??)
Reception Saturday evening 6 to 8 pm, at the Epperson Gallery 1400 Pomona Street, Valona, CA 94525
Show will run to the end of August.
I am getting excited about open studios — coming up June 7 & 8, and 14 & 15, with special preview evening Friday June 6th from 6 to 10 pm. Here are two recent, small paintings from the Mendocino area at Jughandle Beach.
We have moved location this year to just a block away at Market Hall in Jack London Square. Check out the Market Hall group at https://www.facebook.com/market.hall.artists web: http://markethallartists.com
A few small studies of boats – some more local than others.
My alla prima sketch from today’s trip to Capay Valley. The Almond Festival was in full swing, and Esparto was full of people. I started a larger sketch as well, but will have to return to finish it.
This tiny painting I did a few years ago. Small boats are just a lot of fun, though colorful ones are hard to find. Don’t ask me about the red ball, I don’t recall what it was, or maybe I never knew! Hoping to paint at Noyo Harbor soon!
