June 2022

I was invited along with the Monterey Bay Plein Air Painters to participate in the inaugural Point Lobos Foundation Art Appreciation Day  yesterday, June 11. The Foundation’s mission is to protect and nurture Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, to educate and inspire visitors to preserve its unique natural and cultural resources, and to strengthen the network of Carmel Area State Parks. We have had a warming trend in the area, and promised to be a great day for weather…and it was!

We needed to be in line at Point Lobos State Preserve by the 8am opening time as parking is always tight to non-existence there.  They graciously waived the $10 preserve entry fee for us artists.  Prior to the event, they asked us to pick a place to paint so they could advertise where we all were.  I chose Cypress Grove Trail as I had never painted there, and would probably have a lot of foot traffic.

I spent most the morning working on an 8×16 piece of Headland Cove.  The painting turned out pretty good, shown above, and is a keeper, although as always, will touch it up a bit. Below are a few pictures of the day…

After lunch, and a quick power nap in the car, I painted another piece, 8×10, from the same spot, but a more intimate, closer view of the rocks.  My objective was to capture the ever changing colors and value of the ocean as it crashes agains the headlands.  I accomplished that, but totally messed up the compositional aspect of the painting.  I ended up with 5 evenly spaced rocks of equal size.  I will modify it some for a more pleasing composition, hopefully without taking away the colors of the pounding surf!

I rarely put prices on my paintings online, but in this case I will.  Proceeds from the paintings will go to the Foundation.  Free shipping in the continental US. If interested, please email me donald@donaldneff.com .