San Clemente Pier

I entered the Annual San Clemente Paint Out which starts June 16.  Check in is Saturday, the 16th,  where you get all of your canvases stamped.  There is a quick draw on the 16, between 12.30 and 3.30.  And then the painting continues through out the week and completes the following Saturday where you turn in your best painting.  I decided to go up today and scout out some scenes and practice.  I put this study together in about 90 minutes and I'm satisfied with what I was able to lay down in this amount of time.  I know with another hour or so I could put some detail into it that might help with the finish.  MIGHT help, it could also go the other way and become overworked very easily!  I'm very familiar with that outcome, and I'm also familiar with walking away before it's finished.   

The Grass is Always Greener

I drove east this weekend to find sunshine, the coastal area all the way to Poway was a bit overcast for most of the day.  I drove east to Lakeside through the Barona Indian Reservation to find some cattle to paint.  I finally found a spot and realized that I was not really on public property, I was on the reservation.  The owner of this small 'ranchette' where I set up my easel, stopped by to find out what I was up to and was a very friendly guy.  He and his wife were in and out of their property throughout the afternoon, passing by me a couple of times.  At one point they asked me how it was going, and it was going well, except, I pointed out, the cows had moved out of my composition!  A few minutes later I see the cows come running down the hill to the center of the field - and the owner in the distance walking back to his house!  I have no idea what he said to those cows - I can't even get my dogs to sit, imagine getting cows to listen?  Thanks for the assist, Cody! 

Iron Mountain

I wanted to get a quick sketch in before the sun went down today.  This took about an hour, started at 6.30.  This mountain is only about 10 minutes from my house, up the Poway Grade.  Love the trails here - I will be back.

Swimming Upstream

This is a view from the end of West Meadow, next to the Gamecock Cottage, looking across the creek with Sand Street beach in the background, left. 

Del Mar - 19th Street

Mother's Day at the beach.  The process I used for this painting was to study the waves first, make a sketch on paper and then I toned the canvas with Alizarin Crimson first before blocking in.  Studying the waves was tough work - relaxing, watching, observing, I almost broke a sweat.  Toning the canvas helped set up the morning sky and the sand and complimented the color of the waves.    This could easily become a life-long obsession, waves are like snowflakes, no two are alike.

Setauket Post Office

This is a view of the old Setauket Post Office from across the pond which is still a functioning post office.  The azaleas were just gorgeous and poured into the pond.  The Three Village area is such a stunningly quaint and beautiful area about 40 or so miles east of New York on Long Island.   At noon the siren still goes off, just as it did when I was a kid.  And many of the local churches ring the bells at noon too.  An ideal town to grow up in, even in the crazy 70's!

Gamecock Cottage - West Meadow Beach

The Gamecock Cottage, a national historic landmark.  This view is from the end of West Meadow Beach looking at the cottage, with Sand Street Beach across the creek in the background.  It was an early, overcast morning and birds of all colors were waking up.  I saw pure red cadmium birds, that I assume were cardinals and some yellow/orange birds, the color of orange bell peppers.  We don't see these colors on our birds in Southern California! 

The Red Barn

The trail leading up to the Bates House, from the Setauket Mill Pond.

Location:Setauket

Setauket Mill Pond

This is the first painting of the day which was done in the morning while it was still overcast but the rain had stopped. It was so much fun to paint at the mill pond which was one of my stomping grounds in my youth, and it was more beautiful than I remember it to be.

Poquot Village

Quick study of a house in Poquot Village on Long Island. It was an overcast drizzly and chilly afternoon but still a very pretty place to paint. For this Southern Californian , I was able to get one quick study in before I froze to death. Tomorrow starts the Joseph Reboli wet paint festival which is sponsored by Gallery North in Stony Brook. It lasts for three days and day one will be painting at the Setauket Millpond. I am just hoping for good weather.

A couple of things that I recall now but had forgotten for years is how dense the trees are here on Long Island and also how quickly the tide goes out. By the time I finished this quick study it was dead low tide.

The Magic Pail

This little boy was playing by the water on Saturday at the beach.

Location:Del Mar

Wave Study II

19th St., Del Mar. It was overcast and very windy at the beach, wasn't nearly as warm as it was yesterday but it was beautiful nonetheless. So this is day two of doing wave studies and I have found that it's absolutely necessary to do a pencil sketch in a sketchbook first before starting a painting because the waves don't sit still for you. You have to determine which set, which waves, and get it down on paper. So once I did that then I could look at waves in the future sets while I was painting for reference.
On another note, for you Rolling Stones fans - have you ever listened to Britney Spears' version of 'Can't get no satisfaction'? It's good!

Location:Del Mar

Waves Study 1

Beautiful day in Del Mar today. I'm learning about waves and how to look at them, what they do, how they behave and trying to capture some of that. This is a study I did at 22nd St. and I'm hoping to expand this into a larger piece when I get the time.

Location:Del Mar

Young Woman with Phone

A portrait exercise from reference of one of my daughter's closest friends, a wonderfully gifted photographer.  BTW - found a great music station on Pandora called 'The Cuban Horns Radio', fabulous music!

Marston house flowers II

These are the flowers in the garden from a different angle.

Foggy Fisherman

It was foggy this past weekend and it seems like that weather might be favorable for fishing given how many were on the beach.  I found this guy down a ways, waist high in the waves.   

Marston House - Southeast Corner

This is my second sketch of the day at the Marston House this past Saturday.  I was positioned down-hill from the house with Highway 163 behind me.  I was looking up, at a great angle.  It was a beautiful afternoon. 

Marston House - Flower Urn

I painted at the Marston House in San Diego with some fellow plein air painters.  The morning started with a lot of fog. But as you can see the sun broke through, and it became a beautiful sunny morning.

Morning Walk

A study from my walk this morning as the sun was coming up.  Light was coming through the trees but not high enough to light up much more.  

Sunset

What an interesting day!  For some reason I got up at 4 AM, which is a tad early even for me and decided to paint.  It was easy, no struggle at all with getting into it and it felt like such a great way to start the day.  I had a jammin' day ahead of me at work, and I usually paint when I get home but I am often very spent - so to do what I love first, what a treat it was!  I'm still working on paintings of Rancho Santa Fe, this is a painting of the lake as the sun was starting to set.

The Path

I'm not saying that this is the estate in Rancho Santa Fe on which I unintentionally trespassed, I'm not.  But it is a beautiful trail. 

Quick Sketch II

Quick sketch of the lake in Rancho Santa Fe.  It is quite a small lake, a reservoir which is public water, regardless it's a pretty spot. 

Undercover

I went out to dinner last night in Rancho Santa Fe and decided to go back today to paint. I drove toward the village and turned off about a half mile from the center of town and drove past beautiful farms and ranches looking for a place to pull over and set up my easel. I came upon a small lake so I pulled over to take a hike around it which was maybe two miles if one followed the horse trail That circled the lake - I was looking for a vantage point, the best angle of the sun, etc. So, what happens next is not exactly mischief or at least it didn't start out that way. The horse trail is not exactly continuous, so I followed it through creeks and woods but was getting further from the lake and more importantly my gear. So I doubled back and asked a runner how to catch the trail again, I got directions to pass the next orange grove and take the next path that appears to go through a couple of backyards. There are no signs, I guess horses don't read so I used my best judgement (hahaha) and I walked through a backyard, into a gorgeous meadow which turned into a little paradise with waterfalls, gazebos, large palm trees and beautiful bougainvillea. I took quite a few shots with my camera and headed in the general direction of the lake. So by this time I was getting hungry for breakfast and coffee, I thought I'd get a bite to eat in town before I set up to paint. So finally I see the road and mind you I'm still walking on what I thought was a horse trail, albeit a very,very, nice one, until I got to the road and found myself staring at a very large locked gate. What to do. It was too long of a walk to retrace my steps but there was a neighboring property with a chain linked fence that looked like an easy out. It wasn't that difficult to manage, although I am too old for this kind of shenanigans - but once over I realized there was one more and it had that pointy stuff on the top. I studied this fence and the possibilities. Then I saw a section where it was MOSTLY flat on the top. So I've got one leg over and ready to jump down then the other leg of my jeans gets caught in the fence and rips all the way up my calf! I guess it could have been worse and I did get back on the trail, the runner on her return trip waved as she passed, giving me a thumbs up because I had found the trail! She had no idea. At this point I decided to go home for breakfast and paint in the studio, so I did. But I will be back!

Morning Gold

The bridge over the mouth (from the Lagoon side) of Los Penasquitos Lagoon at the Torrey Pines Headlands.  Dawn had just broken and the storm clouds had moved inland.  

Sailing on the Bay

Very quick sketch of the San Diego Bay, at the Embarcadero. Catching a sailboat meandering by.

Outstanding in Their Field

The Ramona Grasslands Preserve is about 10 miles north east of Poway and off Highland Valley Road, right by Mt Woodson Golf Course.  There are many trails, and a wooden rail fence that separates you from the cows grazing in the fields.  When I came down the trail to this point, where I set up to paint on the edge of a 20 foot wide trail, there was a cow on the trail, hanging out there with some buddies on the other side of the fence.  By the time I set up my easel they had moseyed a bit up the way. 

Friends of Distinction

Grazing in the Grass was recorded by the Friends of Distinction in 1969 and became a top ten hit on the billboard.  The lyrics and upbeat music epitomize that warm weather feeling, and reminds me of endless barefoot summer days on Long Island.  It was a gorgeous morning in San Diego county this past Saturday and this cow was enjoying brunch and listening to his iPod, no doubt.

San Diego Bay

A quick study at the Embarcadero in San Diego, close to Petco Park and facing the Coronado Bay Bridge.  It was Easter morning and a nice group of people asked me to join them in their picnic - however I had to get back and finish watching the Masters. Yes, the members live in the dark ages and they need to give the CEO her green jacket already!  That said, it was one of the best Masters Tournaments in recent history - so many contenders right up to the last hole.  Go Bubba! 

Sunset in Del Mar

The cars and RVs line up on Pacific Coast Highway to watch the sunset at the Torrey Pines headlands, just north of the golf course where the Buick Invitational is played, oops - this is now the Farmer's.  I'm painting on the cliff at the end of 4th St. in Del Mar, looking south.  It was a beautiful afternoon, evening. I finished this study in about 2 hours, trying to capture the light which became more and more rich by the time I packed up at 6:30.  

Ramona Spring

It was a gorgeous day today - headed east to Ramona, where everything was green, green, green.  There was a strip of heather in front of me and about a dozen cows behind me.  More to come on that.

Miami Farmer's Market II

A close-up from the Pinecrest Farmer's market. 

Palette Knife

I wanted to do a study using the palette knife only - it is another stormy day in San Diego, this is Torrey Pines, just north of the golf course.  

Value Studies - Figure

I took a piece of primed linen and attached it to a sketching clipboard, and taped off four sections.  I did four quick value studies of the human form - the model is my daughter Maddie, from photos I took during the holidays in December.  I had some paint left on my palette so I mixed some grays, I tried to keep this to 3, sometimes 4 values.  It was a good exercise to do the series of quick studies to practice both the values and the figure.   

First Bloom of Spring

The first bloom from my rose bushes.  Plenty of rain this winter - the roses will be beautiful this spring.

Red Bowl and Blue Vase 'Berklee' Style

Listening to 'BIRN 3' - AirAlumni music from Berkelee College of "music's illustrious alumni from all over the world".  Great music station, eclectic mix - amazing artists - the music is creatively rich - but doesn't sound over worked.  I imagine that if Cezanne's paintings were audio, they might be on this station.

Farmer's Market - Miami

The Farmer's Market in Pinecrest, a village in Miami is just incredible.  The vegetables were vibrant, many were huge (the avocados were the size of footballs), and full of saturated color.  It was a cornucopia for the senses.

Good Scents

Spring is in the air!  

Late Winter Storm

Another late winter storm in Southern California.  The mountains to the east of Poway (and San Diego) got snow a couple of weeks ago, it is rare to get the snow at lower elevations and always a treat so I made the trek east 20 miles to get some reference material.  I am enjoying learning to paint the snow - it's a new challenge and lots of fun.

It's Raining Again

Raining again in San Diego, starting to wonder if the North East is getting the weather that belongs in the South West.  This is a small painting from reference - I went out to Ramona last weekend to look for snow and took photos along the way, this was of a farm in Ramona where I stopped and bought a dozen eggs. 

Walking the Dog

Somewhat overcast today - this is the horse trail behind my neighborhood in Poway.  The weather this month has been wet and stormy, it's supposed to rain again tomorrow.  It's crazy, yesterday it was colder all up and down the state of CA than it was on Long Island, NY where my younger daughter is going to school!  By the way, I returned my Olympus compact camera - it wasn't very good at all without a flash and that's how I take my photos.  I got a very good Canon (Powershot 100) for only a couple of dollars more.   I love it.  I also got one of those mini gorilla tripods which is a great invention!  It will travel well.

Dance

My daughter's friend, a great photographer took some photos of her in a field, this is one I really liked and so I tried to capture the movement here.

Spring Tulips

Beautiful, warm day in San Diego today!  In honor of the beautiful weather, a poem by Gary Young (as featured in the Writer's Almanac.),  this poem is moving, spiritually and visually which are sometimes the same thing for me.  Like flowers, that bloom every year, every day.

In the heat of late afternoon, lightning streaks from a nearly
cloudless sky to the top of the far mesa. At dusk, the whole south
end of the valley blazes as the clouds turn incandescent with
some distant strike. There is a constant congress here between
the earth and the sky. This afternoon a thunderstorm crossed the
valley. One moment the ground was dry, and the next there were
torrents running down the hillsides and arroyos. A quarter-mile off
I could see a downpour bouncing off the sage and the fine clay
soil. I could see the rain approach, and then it hit, drenching me,
and moved on. Ten minutes later I was dry. The rain comes from
heaven, and we are cleansed by it. Suddenly the meaning of baptism
is clear to me: you can begin again, and we are saved every day.

Spring Flowers

Spring flowers -  a handful from the front yard.   I have added a couple of colors back to my palette, lemon yellow and cad orange - just to add some variation.  This sketch is another exercise in keeping an eye on the intervals and shapes and the weight of the objects in relation to each other.  I switched up the vases a couple of times, of course after I had blocked it in once so I had to wipe if off and start over.  Using the rear view mirror helps to see mistakes.  There are only three objects here, really, how hard could this be?  But they can be arranged many ways, and consider the fabric fold, how that helps the eyes come into the painting - it all makes quite a difference.  Like golf, painting is not a game of perfect!

Miami Golf

This is an exercise in composition, working on keeping every interval different, and shapes interesting.  I thoroughly enjoyed playing this course, the weather and laughed so much with my two brothers that one might think we were not related!  I can't recall for certain but I think this hole is on the back nine.

Ramona Storm II

This is from reference, this past weekend's storm.  The clouds won the day.  Again, back to a limited palette.  And, my book order arrived today, "The Simple Secret to Better Painting", by Greg Albert.  It is a recommendation by Carol Marine.  It is all about composition, simplifies the subject and at the same time enlightens one, and make you think about your painting in a new way. 

Snow Storm in East County - San Diego

It was a cold and stormy day...I drove out to Ramona and Santa Ysabel today to see some snow.  It has been storming here since Friday and snowing east of my house about 20 miles, which would be about 30 miles from the beach.  It was too cold (34 degrees), wet (snow, hail and rain) and windy to paint on location for me, so I took many photos, which required me to be outside quite enough!  I shouldn't complain, I was filling my gas tank in Santa Ysabel just behind two bikers who sounded European, they were in full all weather gear but still looked cold on their motorcycles.  I remarked at what a nice a day it was for a ride, they advised me to put the convertible top down on my car!  

I came home with my new (cheap and good) camera,  very excited to paint to see what I had to choose from.  This is a view north east from Mussey Grade.  I tried my best not to cause any traffic accidents as I pulled over to shoot time and again - if you carry your camera with you in your car, you know of which I speak, it can't be helped and measuring relative risk - I think it's safer than texting (can you believe some people still do that)?!!

La Gorce - Third Hole (day 2)

I wanted to use this reference again for an exercise in color notes.  My palette is extended beyond my usual cad yellow, alizarin crimson and ultramarine blue, I added permanent red, orange and lemon yellow, and a dash of phthalo blue.  The colors became more blended than I intended, but it was a good exercise.

Key Biscayne - Dunes

Back at the easel after a trip to the east coast where I enjoyed some wonderful weather, company and golf.   This is a painting of the beach in front of one of the hotels on Key Biscayne.  

Miami and Golf

Third Hole at La Gorce Golf Course from the perspective of looking back, as was pointed out to me.  I was so taken by this tree I had to take a second look.  I think it was the only tree of this mass on the course - of course being in Florida there were plenty of palm trees, however indigenous trees, of such age and stature are imposing and captivating.

Matheson's Hammock - Miami

This is a small inlet called Matheson's Hammock in the Village of Pinecrest, Miami.  Absolutely beautiful day although it was a bit windy, so much so that I couldn't use my umbrella - fortunately the cloud cover and the palm tree were working in my favor and shielding my palette and canvas from the direct sun.  When that happens I end up with a painting that reads about 6 times darker than is should.