Donald Neff

Stick to Your Original Plan

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When doing plein air work, it is usually wise to stick to your original plan. Sometimes the light may change, but if you change a painting along with it, the entire thing may not work. I affirmed this lesson the other day…

Alum Rock Park, founded in 1872, was the first municipal park in the U.S. state of California. Located in a canyon in the Diablo Range foothills on the east side of San Jose, it is fairly close to my home. The Los Gatos plein air group was painting there today, so joined them.

The park has many things to paint. Penitencia Creek winds its way through the canyon, and there are plenty of century old bridges, rock formations and hillsides. It was cloudy, but the sun would peek through occasionally lighting the distant hill side. I decided to paint one of the foot bridges in shadow with the sun catching the hillside behind it…

alum2.jpg

The painting started out well, but as soon as I finished the lit hillside and was halfway done with the bridge, the cloud cover lifted, and the bridge was now bathed in light…

alumn3.jpg

So, I changed it. Bad decision. The bridge just didn’t look right. So, I scraped it off and repainted it in shadow. The entire painting is probably a scraper, but it also taught me a lesson. Below is a quick snapshot…

alumn4.jpg

And one final picture of some of the Los Gatos painters.

alum1.jpg

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Carmel Show Back On

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I guess the city of Carmel threw a fit when the Carmel Art Festival was canceled, so it is back on! You can read more on their web site, but the show was originally canceled due to the economy. I guess the show planners didn’t consider the economy of the town in their original decision! The festival brings in lots of extra income to the hotels, restaurants, and other businesses.

Hope to see you there! Below is one of my entries from last year.

big sur, carmel, coastline, california

Meanderings * 12×24

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Correction – Eclectic 2.0

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Oops, I pasted the wrong URL in the last post.  It is fixed, but some RSS feeds did not pick up the corrected post. The correct link is–

http://www.rossching.com/eclectic-20

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Eclectic 2.0

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Although this weblog is mainly about painting, it is also about art and places in general. I thought this short movie by Ross Ching so compelling, just had to pass it on. It is shot entirely with a digital still camera. Check it out…

http://www.rossching.com/eclectic-20

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Carmel Show Canceled

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I just found out the Carmel Art Festival is canceled this year. That’s a little disappointing as I always enjoyed the show and usually did fairly well in it. According to their web site, all artists scheduled this year will be guaranteed in next years show, so maybe see you there next year!

carmel, big sur, point lobos, california
Pebble Beach * 16×12

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Yosemite Touch-up

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I finally got around to touching up and photographing some of the plein air paintings I did in Yosemite last February (here, here, and here). Below is the result.

yosemite

Snowy Cathedral * 8×16

yosemite, half dome

Half Dome over the Merced * 12×10

sentinel rock yosemite

Sentinel Rock * 12×9

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Use Big Brushes

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I have long been an advocate of the bigger the brush you use the better. For most of my paintings, even the smaller ones, I use a #10 bright, which is about 3/4 of an inch wide. To quote John Cogan, “get the largest brush you can possibly use for the job, then use the next size higher”. (John is one of my favorite artists, and definitely my favorite acrylic artist.)

The last few weeks I have been working on a large commission, using primarily a #12 bright. Yesterday, I took a break and continued working on a series of Yosemite paintings. I used the same #12 bright, which is about an inch wide, and painted an entire 16×20 using only the one brush. (I did use a #12 round for just the sky in order to have softer edges.) Although it is painted in a fairly loose style, I had no problem painting to the level of detail wanted. Although I might touch it up a bit, below is the resulting painting.

glacier point, yosemite, california

Morning Light on Glacier Point * 20×16

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Artists Deduction Bill

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For all of you who are looking for fairer treatment with art auctions and tax write-offs, you might want to go online and sign this petition:

Artists’ Deduction Bill:

This artist deduction bill (S.548) would give artists the right to deduct the fair market value of their work when donating it to a charity. We artists are always asked to donate work to charitable causes for fundraising purposes but when our work is auctioned, the buyer gets the benefit of being allowed to deduct their contribution above the market value, whereas the contributing artists and artisans can only deduct the amount of the material costs of creating their work (the cost of paint, canvas, clay, paper…).

This bill is non-partisan and fair. Please click on the link above and type in your zip code; a letter of support will be sent to your senators and congressmen.

Please forward this link to all of your artist and art loving friends.

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“A Breath of Plein Air”

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Just received word, I am juried into this plein air show sponsored by the History San Jose association. The paintings must be plein air works of San Jose, Santa Clara, or Silicon Valley and runs from May 4 – September 21, 2008.

I don’t do too many paintings of the immediate area, so several weeks ago, I did a painting from Quimby Road in anticipation of entering this show. Up to three paintings can be submitted, so I found a few of my favorites over the last year or so I did with the Los Gatos Plein Air group. All three paintings made it into the show, shown below.

san jose, quimby

Along Quimby Road * 12×16

almaden, san jose

New Almaden * 8×10

san jose, eastridge

Eastridge * 10×8

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Tahoe Day 3

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I headed out again to Sand Harbor. I had time to do one quick painting, and then head to James Harold Galleries in Tahoe City to drop off some new paintings.

It was another wonderful day! It was mostly sunny with a few wisps of clouds drifting by. I painted a smaller painting at about the same spot I was yesterday. Shelly Hocknell Zenter, Bonita Paulis, and Penny Shrawder soon arrived.

In about an hour, I just about finished a 8×10. In my rush, I forgot to take a photo of the painting on the easel, and I will post it later. Below is the scene.

tahoemarf.jpg

Too soon, it was off to James Harold Galleries to drop off some new Yosemite paintings I have been developing the last month or so, and then the long trek home!

Here is one of the paintings now at James Harold Galleries–

yosemite, merced

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