Shelly Hocknell Zenter and Bonita Paulis were going to join me painting around Sand Harbor. It was a wonderful day, a few clouds but plenty of sunshine.
I decided to do a 16×20, which is about as large as I paint plein air. If it turned out, could be one of my entries into the Nomadas Del Arte show. Below are a few shots of the day.
The scene I decided to paint–
My easel by a convenient park bench–
Your’s truly painting–
Bonita and Shelly enjoying the day–
My painting on the easel–
The Village Art Gallery at Lake Tahoe’s south shore closed down unexpectedly. The owner was having health problems, and decided to move to a more favorable climate. I made a quick trip up to the lake to get my paintings, and to do a few plein air studies.
Shelly Hocknell Zenter, another artist showing in the gallery had stored my paintings. After retrieving them, I dropped some off at another gallery which is considering showing my work. I will find out soon if they decide to represent me.
Below is one of the paintings showing at the old gallery.
I visited Cantor Arts Center on the Stanford University campus today. They had a special exhibit called “Frederic Church, Winslow Homer, and Thomas Moran: Tourism and the American Landscape”. Quite a mouthful, but the emphasis was how artists in the 1800’s were instrumental in opening up the American west to tourism.
I met my good friend, Scott Loftesness for lunch at the museum cafe. Before retiring from the computer software industry, I worked both for and with Scott in various capacities. Towards the end, he was on the board of directors of a company I started and eventually sold. He now runs a successful consulting company concentrating on the electronic payments industry, and also an avid photographer.
After lunch, we hurried to catch a docent tour of the exhibit. Most of the works were preliminary field sketches by the three artists. Although maybe not as dramatic as finished paintings, it was interesting to see the development and methodology they used. Most were oils on paper, and to my eye could possibly represent finished paintings!
As the docent explained how the artists did their sketches and later translated them into larger paintings, I felt like I was on familiar territory. Much of the terminology and methodology hasn’t really changed much in 150 years, at least for us traditional painters.
Although we have much better and more stable materials than they had back then, the motives and goals remain the same. Artists still want to grab the viewers eyes, pull them in, and move them around the painting in a predetermined but pleasing manner. We still want to capture a sense of place and time.
In the final of three galleries, was a wall size painting of Church’s famous painting of Niagara Falls, shown above. Unfortunately, it was not the original, but an enlarged print probably 15 feet tall and 30 feet wide! It was still quite impressive as it certainly made you feel like you were standing on the precipice of Niagara! The only thing missing was the roar!
Homer, Church, and Moran Read More »
I just saw this YouTube video referenced on Alyson Stanfield’s Artbiz weblog. It’s quite entertaining. All you artists and art collectors should watch it when you have 7 minutes of free time!
I had recently been doing a series of small paintings of Yosemite. My gallery in Carmel wanted a few, so I decided to do the 90 minute drive down and then go on to Big Sur to do a little painting. My painting buddy, Nick White came along. The forecast was for a little morning fog followed by sun, so we were expecting a nice day.
We arrived in Carmel about 10:30, and the sun was out in abundance. After dropping the paintings off at the Sandy-by-the-Sea Gallery, Nick and I grabbed a bite to eat at the Rio Grille, then headed down to Garrapata State Park to paint.
I wanted to paint close to the car so I could carry my chair and save my bad back. We settled on a place I had painted several years before in the morning sun. I just checked the link to Garrapata State Park and the photo in the heading looks like the exact same spot! It was a wonderful sunny day, however very breezy! I had to fight the wind the entire time blowing my equipment and supplies around. We spent about one and a half to two hours, I did one painting, and Nick did two. Mine was definitely a keeper.
Below is the scene I painted–
Nick painting up the hill a bit–
My painting. I did not finish the bottom part as I just held the panel in my hand so I could just relax in my chair without bending over and aggravating my back–
We moved on to the next turnout, and spent a little less than an hour. I almost finished a 6×8, again leaving the bottom to finish later–
Here is Nick painting on the bluff–
After driving down the coast awhile, it was time to head back. Below is a shot of the coast with Bixby Bridge. I am sure you will agree it was a wonderful day!!
Carmel and Big Sur Read More »
An artist friend emailed me a recent book review from the New York Times by Steven Heller entitled The Original Art of Basil Wolverton.
From the article:
Any aficionado of early Mad comics published during the first half of the 1950s, when Mad was still a riotous comic book and not yet a formatted magazine, will recognize the brilliantly perverse parody of a Life magazine cover featuring a portrait of a hideous girl next to the headline “Beautiful Girl of the Month Reads Mad.†The artist who concocted this misshapen, bug-eyed, fang-toothed, pimply-faced, spaghetti-haired, pig-nosed monstrosity was Basil Wolverton (1909-78)…
Heller later says:
Wolverton’s work predates by decades many of the more acerbic comics of the 60s underground commix era, including those of R. Crumb, and is revered by many contemporary comics artists for his graphic lunacy and his matchless facility with pen and ink.
So why am I blogging about a ‘long ago’ comic artist? I knew Basil Wolverton and his family as a young child growing up in Portland Oregon. Our families attended the same small church and of course all the kids looked up to Basil as a famous cartoon artist. As a kid, I and many of my peers tried to copy his hilarious and creative drawings. His drawing style was very unique with crosshatch shading, spaghetti like hair, etc. It probably is what got me interested in drawing in the first place which later led to painting, etc.
Basil’s son Monte carried on the family tradition and makes his living as a cartoonist. Some of his drawings are almost indistinguishable from his father’s.
More information on Monte and Basil can be found here.
I received an email last night from my gallery in Carmel, Sandy-by-the-Sea, that I had been accepted into the Carmel Art Festival. again this year. I have not received official word yet, but their website had me listed for the show. This will be my third year in the event.
Below is a painting from last year’s show–
Carmel Art Festival Read More »
After a quick breakfast, and checking out of Yosemite Lodge, it was time to do one last painting and then head home. With the snow, there were not many places to pull off and paint, but I found a wonderful spot along the Merced River with a view of El Capitan in the background. The light was just stunning. Right under a big evergreen tree, there was no snow, so a perfect spot to paint from!
I set up and drew in my sketch, and then decided to do this painting entirely with a #4 round fairly worn bristle brush. I usually use a #8 or #10 bright, but the round bristle would force me to broaden my paint strokes.
Here is the scene when I set up–
All through my trip I was occasionally entertained by a passing coyote–
My easel as I was painting by the Merced River–
A quick snapshot of the painting–
I’ll post better pictures of all the paintings later when I get a chance to review them and maybe touch them up a little.
All too soon it was time to head home. I would have loved to stay for several more days, or a week, as this was the most beautiful I have seen Yosemite Valley in recent years!!
After a quick breakfast, I headed out this morning to a spot I found yesterday on a foot bridge over the Merced River. I set up on the bridge, and began to paint the river and the surrounding scenery. I didn’t last long! My back was starting to bother me, so I decided I had just better paint close to the car and use my camping chair to sit in. I put in a few key color notes so I could finish it at a later date, and packed up.
The first scene of the day–
Below is my uncompleted painting on the easel–
I went back to a spot by a snowy meadow with Cathedral Rocks in the background. I did a similar painting last year, and it turned out well. The scene with the snow was entirely different and probably a little more challenging. I spent several hours and the painting turned out to be a keeper.
My easel at the second location of the day–
A poor snapshot of the painting–
After relaxing a bit back at the room, I went out to another place close to Yosemite Lodge, and did a painting of Sentinel Rock. It was getting late in the day, and the sun spotlights the rock as it slowly lowers over the west end of the valley. This turned out to be the best of the trip so far.
Sentinel Rock —
My easel by the car while I was painting Sentinel Rock–
A quick snapshot of the painting on the easel–
By the time I was finished, the sun was very low and most of the valley was in shadow. Time to head back to the room, and relax for the evening!
Today I took off for what has become an annual winter trip to Yosemite National Park.
We just had a rough (at least for California) winter storm come through, however it was breaking and the weather should be great in the park. I awoke to rain and clouds in my San Jose home. I guess the storm was clearing a little late! As I made my way down 101 to Hwy 152 and over Pacheco pass, the scenery was unusually spectacular as the clearing skies were highlighting the emerald green of California hills this time of year. I probably could have just stopped and painted here for the day…but I would have to save that for another time. Going over 152 and Pacheco Pass, clouds and fog were hanging in all the California hill valleys. As soon as I got over the pass, suddenly it was instant sunshine. The entire central valley of California was clear!
On to Yosemite. The weather had backed up against the Sierras a little, but clearing. After some traffic delays, I finally got to Yosemite Valley. It was wonderful. A foot of snow was everywhere, and the plows were still out clearing roads and trails.
I wanted to do a painting prior to checking into Yosemite Lodge. With the new snow, there were not a lot of places to pull off and find a place to work. I also was not in my winter boots yet, so looked for an easy place. I settled on Sentinel Bridge, which is one of the most famous picture points at Yosemite. Half Dome looms over the Merced River, sometimes casting an exact image in the water. Winter water seems to be darker, though, and today was no exception. I spent about 90 minutes working until it was about time to pack it in.
Here is the view from Sentinel Bridge:
A not so good snapshot of my painting–
After checking into the lodge, a shower, and a good meal at the Mountain Room (the baked trout was great) it was time to retire and relax.
