Donald Neff Weblog

We returned from Yosemite Friday evening. We were going to stay until Saturday morning, but my son wanted to get back and get ready for resuming college on Monday. We only lost one evening with some of my family, so I concurred. Between great family socializing, just sitting around a campfire, a sensitive back, etc. [...]

I am off to Yosemite today.  Although this is more a Thanksgiving/social trip, of course I am bringing my paints and hope to do a few paintings.  I was last in Yosemite in January where I accidentaly ran into Scott Burdick, and we hung out and painted together for a few days.  Below is a [...]

Finally caught up and did a photo shoot today. Below are better shots of a couple of recent plein air paintings. This painting is from Elkhorn Slough I did a week or so ago. Misty Elkhorn * 8×16 * Oil on board The following is the painting I did in Coyote Valley yesterday. I am [...]

Coyote Valley is a large expanse of farmland, orchards and homes located in the most southern part of San Jose, California Much of it is largely undeveloped and has been the subject of much controversy, as many in San Jose want to develop the land as a logical growth of the city, but many environmentalists [...]

I have never really been into ‘view finders’ when plein air painting. These are usually square cutouts you hold up to frame and isolate the scene so you can get a better handle on the composition and how to paint it. Many artists make their own just by cutting a square out of a piece [...]

Located at the center of the Monterey Bay coastline, Elkhorn Slough harbors the largest tract of tidal salt marsh in California outside of San Francisco Bay. This ecological treasure provides habitat for plants,animals , and more than 340 species of birds, and is a major fish nursery for the region. The slough is an interesting [...]