November 2007

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 piece from that trip.

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 want to keep it untouched.

I met the Los Gatos Plein Air Group here, for their usual Monday morning paint-out. We met at the corner of Palm Ave and Palm Court, right in the middle of the valley.

It was a wonderful morning! We had rain over the weekend which cleared much of the sky including haze which had seeped our way from the many fires in Southern California.

It was a great place for me to paint for now, as I could paint right by the car with my comfortable folding chair, and not strain my back too much!

I settled in and painted a fairly good scene of the farmland and California Hills. Below are some shots of the day.

Nick working on a masterpiece. Later, I think the owner of the farm was interested in purchasing the painting…way to go Nick!

Dave working away.

A shot of some of the group.

A picture of my work in progress on the easel. I draped a blue painting apron over the back to block the morning sun from my palette. You can make out a few unexpected visitors…the local hen population decided to join us for the paint-out.

The painting turned out quit well, I think a ‘keeper’, but it is lacking something. After bringing it home, I decided there needed to be a little more interest in the field in the lower right part. I might touch it up and put it on the blog in a couple days to see what you think.

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 study for paintings. The tidal areas and land mass form interesting patterns of light and dark, giving the entire area an abstract look. These abstract patterns can make interesting paintings, and every time you visit it, the tide and weather form an entirely different painting.
The last time I painted this area was February of 2005 and I have wanted to come back ever since. I painted Elkhorn Slough several years ago with the Los Gatos Plein Air group. Once again, they met and painted there just last Monday. With a combination of bad back and lousy weather I decided not to go. Well, the weather looked good today, so I went.

Actually, the morning was quite foggy, but the forecast was clearing, so I left around 1 PM to catch the afternoon sun. It was about an hours drive, and when I got there, the fog was still drifting in and out with probably less than a mile of visibility. I could barely see past some of the tree lines, and the distant water was barely visible. Wonderful! I was ready to paint a more moody painting of the slough!

I knew the turnout I wanted to paint at (same as before), and could set up right there with my chair for back support. I painted probably the first hour standing, and the last hour sitting down. It took about two hours to finish the painting.

The painting I did several years ago was good (showing now at Sandy-by-the-Sea Gallery in Carmel), but the one I did today had a totally different tone, and I think I like it better…at least for the time being!

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p align=”center”>Starting the painting.

A shot of my comfortable setup.

Similar shot near the end of the day.

Here is a quick shot of the painting on the easel. I will get a better shot later.

Below is the same scene I painted in 2005. It was a clearer day, and the mood quite different.