Month: November 2014

The Creeks Collection

December 16, 2018 / By

Continuing the ”Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley” year long quest.


Subscribe to this blog by entering your email in the right sidebar>>>>>

 

After a little touchup, varnishing, and re-shooting all the paintings in “The Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley” quest, I made this short video of the entire collection. Enjoy it along with a little Celtic music! Click on the picture above or if not shown, this link to view the video.

 

Plein Air Magazine also wrote a short article for their weekly electronic newsletter and Plein Air Collector web site. Click here to read.

San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society posted an article about my painting of Drawbridge, an actual ghost town in Silicon Valley here.

 

Click this link for a map of all painting locations along with each painting.
Click on this link for a Pinterest catalog of all paintings so far.


The Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley, the Movie

November 12, 2014 / By

Continuing the ”Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley” year long quest.

Subscribe to this blog by entering your email in the right sidebar>>>>>

My year long quest to paint “The Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley” is over! 60 paintings of 43 creeks and waterways were produced.

Please enjoy and share this short video celebration of the hidden beautiful spaces in our metropolitan areas with art.

More information can be found at:
http://www.donaldneff.com/creeks.html

Click this link for a map of all painting locations along with each painting.
Click on this link for a Pinterest catalog of all paintings so far.

Sixty: …and Evening

December 14, 2018 / By

Continuing the ”Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley” year long quest.


Subscribe to this blog by entering your email in the right sidebar>>>>>

"...and Evening", 8x10, oil on boardMorning…Afternoon…and Evening. We had an almost full moon rising around dusk today, so what better way to end this quest with a view of Silicon Valley with a full moon rising over the eastern foothills. I am not as familiar with the western foothills of Santa Clara County where I wanted to paint this, so took me quite a bit of time on Google Earth, and just driving around, to find this scene. I also wanted it to be by a creek I had not painted yet.


I settled on a view from Peacock Court in the foothills above Cupertino. In the distant valley you can see downtown San Jose. The creek is Swiss Creek and is a tributary of Stevens Creek, which I have painted several times in this quest. We were above Permanente Quarry and I could hear the equipment in the distance below. As soon as I turned onto Peacock Court, guess what I saw….a peacock!

The rising moon was spectacular. In the pictures, it almost looks like a rising sun. I stayed until it was too dark to paint, and touched the painting up in the studio.

Click on a thumbnail to open up a larger picture and slide show***

I found a peacock on Peacock Court.
The rising moon over Silicon Valley.
Parked along Peacock Ct. and some nice mansions.
My easel with the almost full moon.

 

This ends the year long quest, but there is much more coming up! Just the painting part is over!

I have a special surprise coming in a few days, and there is much more after that, so stay tuned!

 

Click this link for a map of all painting locations along with each painting.
Click on this link for a Pinterest catalog of all paintings so far.


***Email subscribers may not see all pictures. Just click on the title for a link to the online version.

FiftyNine: …Afternoon…

November 10, 2014 / By

Continuing the ”Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley” year long quest.

Subscribe to this blog by entering your email in the right sidebar>>>>>

"...Afternoon...", 8x10, oil on board
“…Afternoon…”, 8×10, oil on board

 

I am releasing the final three paintings in this quest as a trio, and here is number two. “…Afternoon…” was painted late in the day and since we just went off daylight savings time, the sun sets early around 5 o’clock.

Most of you know I own and ride a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Metcalf Road, as a backroads way going home, is a favorite ride. It’s a country road, and the first part, painted here, is steep and full of hairpin turns. You can see just a hint of the road on the right side. At the top of the hill, behind me, is the Metcalf Motorcycle Park for motocross dirt bikers.

Metcalf Creek empties into Coyote Creek, one I have painted multiple times in this quest. The far hills are the coastal range of California, and you can barely make out the iconic radar building at the top of Mt Unumhum.

Down below, you can see settlement ponds which is part of the Coyote Creek engineered system. You can also barely make out Hwy 101. I showed just a glimpse of Metcalf Creek at the bottom of the hill. Just to the right in the valley glare, you can barely make out the southernmost suburban area of San Jose. It seems every year, this line creeps further south as new neighborhoods are built. Just to the left in the valley, but not shown, is the Metcalf Transmission Substation which made national news awhile back with a sophisticated sniper assault.

Click on a thumbnail to open up a larger picture and slide show***

 

The basic scene I was painting. What a view and not far from my home!
Painting on Metcalf Road.
My easel as the sun was close to setting.
Packing up, a view of my easel and SUV along Metcalf Rd.

 

An artists note: I painted almost the entirety with a #10 filbert brush, Silver Ruby Satin brand, about 3/4 of an inch wide. Since the entire painting is in the distance and late in the day, I wanted a soft look throughout. The larger the brush you can use, the better! Also, some of the brightest parts on the hillsides are ‘take-aways’. I tone my canvas with Transparent Red Oxide, and lifting the paint reveals part of the undertoned canvas.

This is quite an expansive view, and a little hard to fit on a small 8×10 canvas. It’s on my list for a large painting later on!

Just one more painting to go, and…

I have a special surprise coming next week when the quest is over. Stay tuned!

Click this link for a map of all painting locations along with each painting.
Click on this link for a Pinterest catalog of all paintings so far.

***Email subscribers may not see all pictures. Just click on the title for a link to the online version.

FiftyEight: Morning…

December 14, 2018 / By

Continuing the ”Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley” year long quest.


Subscribe to this blog by entering your email in the right sidebar>>>>>

Morning... , 8x10, oil on boardMorning…, a view of Randol Creek in the Almaden Valley area. I previously painted in this area with Fifteen: The Hard Drive Machine and Eighteen, Nineteen: Mercury Sheen and you can read a bit of the local history by clicking on those links. The creek has been dry all summer, but with a good downpour, it is now running just a bit, and I was out painting this right when the morning storm started to clear. Randol is a tributary of Alamitos Creek, which flows into the Guadalupe and on to San Francisco Bay, right in the middle of a newer suburban neighborhood at the southwestern edge of San Jose.

Trees are starting their fall color in the valley, as they did when I started this quest almost a year ago. Unlike last year, though, the creeks are much drier and some which normally run year round are completely dry.

Click on a thumbnail to open up a larger picture and slide show***

 

The basic scene I wanted to paint.
My easel at the creek. The skies were turning sunny.

 

Click this link for a map of all painting locations along with each painting.
Click on this link for a Pinterest catalog of all paintings so far.


***Email subscribers may not see all pictures. Just click on the title for a link to the online version.