January 30, 2022 January 30, 2022 / By Donald Neff
Only a couple days left in my annual magnificent miniatures sale! I have sold quite a few, but there are some gems left. Don’t wait. The sale ends Jan 31!
If you are looking for a great keepsake for the new year, this is the biggest discount I ever sell my paintings, some up to 70% off. Price is for framed or unframed original as shown. Shipping is free in the continental US. I don’t have a sophisticated sales system, so just email me at donald@donaldneff.com if interested in a painting. I can take credit card or check.
January 27, 2022 January 27, 2022 / By Donald Neff
From April 2020, for a year, I posted on Facebook a painting each day as a brief diversion from the lockdowns and other bad news this year. Neglecting my weblog, I’ll post in the coming days some of my better posts. Some of these paintings are still available.
“Cascade Creek”, 24×18, acrylic on board
Today’s virus diversion from the “isitudiyo esiseduze netheku” is another acrylic from the way-back-machine. I painted this during my acrylic era in the early 2000’s.
Cascade Creek flows out of the Yosemite high country, then cascades over cataracts and waterfalls into the Merced River Valley and joins the Merced River. This scene is right by Hwy 140, the central entrance to the valley.
January 22, 2022 January 22, 2022 / By Donald Neff
What a spectacular display of mother nature! One of the most amazing natural occurrences is coming up this February in Yosemite National Park. I have been fortunate to have seen it twice. There are thousands of pictures of the firefall on the internet, but I have never seen a painting of it. So, fresh off the easel at the Neff Studio...I painted one…
Firefall! , 16×20, oil on canvas
Fire is difficult to paint, and half the reason I painted this is to try my hand at it. Although it isn’t actual fire, it looks like fiery lava pouring over the side of a cliff. Here’s a little backstory—
During my adolescent years growing up in Pasadena, CA, we used to make trips to Yosemite National Park, camping in both the valley and the high country. I remember well, while camping in the valley we would shuffle out in the valley to the middle of a meadow to watch the Firefall. It used to be called the parks most famous spectacle where each evening during the summer months, a huge bonfire was built high above the valley at the edge of Glacier Point. At 9pm the glowing coals were pushed over the edge creating a luminous glittering waterfall of fire tumbling some 3200 feet. Here is a picture I gleaned off the internet —
In 1968 due to a variety of reasons, the Firefall was discontinued.
However, today, there is an even more wondrous and totally natural Firefall. Each year for a week or two in February the setting sun beams up the valley and illuminates Horsetail Falls, and when conditions are perfect, it glows orange and red for a brief time. It’s hit and miss because the sky must be relatively clear, and there has to be enough flowing water in the falls. I have been fortunate to see it twice while attending the Yosemite Renassaince opening art reception where my paintings have been shown in the Yosemite Museum.
Of course, I have seen many pictures of it over the years, and always thought the photos had to be enhanced or touched up. Not so. The falls glow a bright yellow/red/orange for about 10 minutes. It was like someone hung a giant glow stick over the edge of the cliff.
The last year I saw it in 2019, many have said was one of the best. Due to the heavy snow in Yosemite Valley, we had to work for it a bit more by having to walk over a mile to the best vantage point…but well worth it. The recent snows added another dimension, and when the wind blew the icy crystals off the shoulder of El Capitan, the entire cliff lit up as if fire in the bowels of the earth emerged. This is the event I based the painting on. As usual, I might touch the painting up a bit.
January 19, 2022 January 19, 2022 / By Donald Neff
From April 2020, for a year, I posted on Facebook a painting each day as a brief diversion from the lockdowns and other bad news this year. Neglecting my weblog, I’ll post in the coming days some of my better posts. Some of these paintings are still available.
“Shinkoji Nakaniwa”, 18×24 , oil on canvas. Sixth in the Japan studio series.
From the “stiwdio ger y bae”, this Buddhist Temple Courtyard overlooks the Japanese town of Maniwa and is just a few minutes walk from where my son used to live. Those who have traveled Japan know Buddhist Temples are found everywhere, and many are situated near Japan’s most beautiful locations.
On the left is the temple gate, and in the middle is the temple bell. On the right are some outbuildings and a pagoda like sculpture. A number of red banners (I think they are called Nobori) were hung around the courtyard, but I don’t know their significance.
January 15, 2022 January 15, 2022 / By Donald Neff
From April 2020, for a year, I posted on Facebook a painting each day as a brief diversion from the lockdowns and other bad news this year. Neglecting my weblog, I’ll post in the coming days some of my better posts. Some of these paintings are still available.
“Mt Moran Study”, 9×12, oil on panel, plein air
Pain. I was in a lot of pain. So much lower back pain, I almost cancelled my trip. But, I went anyway as it was once in an artists lifetime experience.
May of 2004, Jim Wilcox, one of the premier western landscape artists in the US was conducting a weeklong “Masters Plein Air Workshop” at his gallery and studio in Jackson Wyoming. It was for a select few advanced artists, and you had to be juried in to attend. I didn’t want to miss it. What better way to spend a week in Grand Teton National Park studying and painting under a master artist’s tutelage. I decided to go and tough it out.
It was a wonderful week, but my lower back was killing me most of the time. We painted all over the Tetons in all kinds of weather…sunny, rainy, sleet, and a little snow. One day when it was raining too hard to paint outside, we set up in Jim’s studio and painted there.
From the “studio nära viken”, here is one plein air study I did of Mt Moran in the Teton mountain range. It always reminds me of a glorious, but painful week.
January 11, 2022 January 11, 2022 / By Donald Neff
Last Saturday I joined the California Art Club along the Big Sur coastline for a plein air paintout. We were expecting a cloudy morning gradually clearing, but when I arrived just before 10am, it was sunny and clear and very little wind. It was a glorious day! The surf action was amazing with huge waves crashing against the rocky cliffs, in some places almost reaching the top.
We met at one of my favorite spots along the coast near Soberanes Point. It is easily accessible and a starting point for a number of trails along the coast and inland. Large and small coves abound with plenty of scenes to paint! I have painted here many, many times in all types of weather.
When I arrived, the parking area was almost full, however I only saw a few artists painting. That soon changed as within an hour or so, there were probably 30-40 artists lined up around the bluffs.
Enjoy this short video I took of the event including both eye level and above shots of the beautiful California Big Sur coast line. Turn the volume up and go HD full screen!
I spent a few hours painting, with a few breaks to walk the bluffs and visit with fellow artist friends, take pictures, and meet new artists. I had to leave early afternoon, but before departing, did a short drone flight over the area.
Generally, paintings I do during these paintouts are not my best, as they are as much a social event as a painting event. In this case, the painting turned out well, and I consider a ‘keeper’. After just a little studio touchup, you can see the results above. “Soberanes”, 8×16, oil on panel. I might even do a larger studio piece based on this one.
From April 2020, for a year, I posted on Facebook a painting each day as a brief diversion from the lockdowns and other bad news this year. Neglecting my weblog, I’ll post in the coming days some of my better posts. Some of these paintings are still available.
“Morning on Metcalf Road”, oil on panel, plein air
Metcalf Road winds it’s way in the hills south of San Jose. Close to my old home in the Evergreen area of San Jose, it was a favorite ride on my Harley if I just wanted to get away for a bit. Just a few miles from the sprawling Silicon Valley, it is totally rural with farmhouses, winding roads, and vistas of the California hills.
From the “studio tata ki te kokoru” is another plein air piece I did for the Los Gatos Art Festival in 2015, painted in the early morning along Metcalf visible in the foreground.
It’s only a couple days into the new year, but let’s hope it goes better that last year!
I painted “Primary Swell’ some months ago, published it online in several places, but never quite satisfied with it. It was taken from a drone shot during a primary swell in Monterey Bay February 2021. I even had a buyer for it during my open studio event last October, but said let me work on it a bit more. You can read about the genesis of the painting here.
After pondering what it was lacking, decided it mainly needed more color and interest in the big wave, which should be the center of interest. I kept going around in circles, at least in paint circles, probably redoing the wave 3-4 times until somewhat satisfied.
So, in a symbolic gesture of getting rid of the year 2021, it’s out with the old, and in with the new. Below are the two versions of the painting, the older on the left, and the new on the right.
Click and move the slider back and forth to see the difference.
