I had mentioned in my previous post about changing an older mini painting more to my liking. I had done the painting about a year ago, and even though it had great color, it looked ’empty’ and lacking ‘interest’. So, I added some buildings, a fence and a road leading into the painting. Below I have a before and after. So does the new version look better? I think so.
Before
After
Hollister Valley 5×7 Oil on board
I just switched Internet service providers so my high speed link was out for over a week. I had to go down to the local library just to check my email. Anyway, we are back up now with a faster link.
In the meantime, I have been painting a lot of miniatures. My galleries seem to sell these quite readily, and I enjoy doing them. I did 9 last week, plus changing an older one more to my liking. Below are a few, which I will be distributing to my galleries as soon as the frames come in. You can see more by clicking here. The top two rows are all new.
Big Sur Jetty 4×6 Oil on Board
Carson Colors 7×5 Oil on Board
Tahoe Colors 7×5 Oil on Board
I am leaving tomorrow for a Caribbean Cruise on the Caribbean Princess. This will be our third cruise in the Caribbean, and I have never take a paint set, so plan on taking some acrylics and some 6×8 panels in case I have the opportunity to paint on the islands. I took a paint set on our Mediterranean cruise last summer, and the four paintings I did are my favorite ‘souveniers’ of all time. Below is a picture of our ship, the Carribbean Princess.
We will be visiting Princes Cays; Ocho Rios, Jamaica; Grand Cayman; and Cozumel. I won’t be able to post any blogs on the trip, so will post when I get back with any paintings worth viewing.
Below are a couple paintings I did in the Mediterranean last year on Santorini and Rhodes.
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Although it is a ways off, I have been invited by the Menlo Art League to do a demo at their monthly meeting January 9th next year. Not sure what I will demo, but most likely oil painting in a wet on wet technique. Below is a painting I did last March during a demo for the Los Gatos Art Association.
Truckee Snow * 16×20 * Oil on board
Menlo Art League Demonstration Read More »
I went on a one day motorcycle trip to Yosemite yesterday with three other riding buddies. It was a long day, but the weather was beautiful. I don’t think I have ever been to Yosemite for just a day, as I always stay awhile and paint, etc. It was kinda hard to just drive into the park, around the valley, to Glacier Point, and then home. I kept wanting to stop and check into a motel. But, the trip was about group motorcycle riding, so will leave that to another day.
I did get some great shots, especially from Glacier Point which I might use as studies for future paintings. Below is a video I hacked together and upload to youTube. (Note: if the video does not appear below, just click here.)
I was invited to do a demo painting at the Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose Today. This is part of the Los Gatos Art Association‘s program “Art in the Heart of the Hospital”. Not a big affair by any means, it is just me doing a painting demo in the main lobby of the hospital. It was about what I expected, people just going in and out and stopping to watch me paint for a few moments. I decided to do a seascape of the Pt Lobos area, similar to some I had done for the Carmel Art Show. Below are a few shots of the demo.
My partially finished painting in the lobby.
Demo at Good Samaritan Read More »
Today was the main event where the public is invited to view the finished works, awards are granted, and the paintings are auctioned off. Most plein air events auction off the paintings, and the Carmel Art Festival is typical. During the day a ‘silent auction’ is open where buyers write in their name and a bid for the painting. Once it reaches so many bids for a particular piece, (ten in this instance), the painting with be “live auctioned” off vocally to the highest bidder. This is conducted something like what most people have seen or may be accustomed to in a live auction. Both my paintings had enough bids to go to live auction…the only artist with both paintings to do so.
The day actually went pretty slow, as most artists hang around the exhibit space and chat with other artists and art collectors. Pastor John Helveston and his wife Lucy came down and kept me company for part of the day. Pastor John presides over a local church close to my home.
Below are a series of photos from the day.
Carmel Art Festival Day 4 Read More »
I had two decent paintings for the show, so the ‘pressure’ was off, but had wanted to paint a spot at Point Lobos I had seen on my trip the week before. I decided to check it out in the early morning light. It was a spot that I had encounterd Paul Kratter on Wednesday painting in the afternoon sun (I found out later he didn’t enter that painting in the show). The scene was entirely different in the morning sun, and I liked it better. I originally thought about doing a ‘backup’ painting and having fun, so did a 16×12. Like the day before, you could see Pebble Beach golf course on the distant shore. This time, there was less fog. Below are a few pictures of the painting on my easel.
By the time I finished the painting, the rocks, which had been almost entirely in shadow were now in full sunlight.
After lunch, I went back to the room to touch up the paintings, photograph them and frame them. They had to be turned in between 6 and 8 that evening. At the last minute decided on the smaller work I had done that day over “Pebble Beach” I had done the day before, as it had a richer, warmer tone, plus I liked the trees better.
I had my paintings in around 6:30. The hard part was over. Time to relax and rest up for the festivities the next day.
“Pebble Beach” * 16×12 * Oil on canvas board
Above is the painting for the day. I actually touched it up after I took this photo, adding a bit more froth in the surf and a few more darks in the rock.
Carmel Art Festival Day 3 Read More »
Today was the day to start painting! Fog was forecast for the morning but clearing later in the day. So, I set my alarm for seven o’clock just to see what was going on. Seven rolled around, I looked out and it was still pretty well fogged in. I lay back down, and suddenly woke up. A skylight in the vaulted ceiling was streaming down sunlight…and it was 9 AM! Yikes!! I pulled on my clothes, jumped in the car and headed down the coast to where I wanted to do my first painting.
The fog was still lifting in places. I planned on doing a painting just past Hurricane Point where a river winds it’s way past a rock outcropping and hits the Pacific Ocean. It was windy! Now I know why they call it Hurricane Point! I had to hide behind my SUV in order to accomplish anything. For this painting, I was using an odd size canvas and not my normal canvas board. The wind was pumping the stretched canvas in and out, flapping it around. I could paint, but could not do anything with much precision. I had to peek around my car in order to view the scene I was painting. I did manage to finish the painting about 90 percent. I would have to finalize it where it was calmer! Below are a few shots at the scene, which was turning out to be quite a nice sunny day!
After stopping in Carmel for a quick lunch, it was time to head to Pt Lobos. I had previously spotted a location yesterday to check out first. As soon as I got there, and parked, the fog was starting to pour in. On the distant shoreline was famous Pebble Beach golf course, with the greens glowing in the late afternoon sun. It would go in and out of the light, which made for a magnificent background. I did a 20×16. A couple deer were grazing around me most of the time I was painting. I forgot to take a pictures of the work on the easel, but got some pictures of the deer.
With the sun hitting on Pebble Beach, I decided to name the painting just that!
I was pretty tired, so headed back to the room, had a nice dinner, then settled in to rest for the next day. I had two paintings good enough for the show, so tomorrow I didn’t have to panic to get any more paintings.
Below are the two paintings I did today:
“Meanderings” * 12×14 * Oil on canvas
“Pebble Beach” * 20×16 * Oil on canvas board
Carmel Art Festival Day 2 Read More »
I had failed to mention something in my prior post today. When I came down to Carmel for the art festival, I also brought 8 paintings down, which are now being displayed at the Carmel art gallery, Sandy-by-the-Sea. I had spoken with them the week before, and they seemed anxious to show my work, however a little short on gallery space. So, most of the works are smaller. About half are plein air and the rest studio. Below is one of the works on display there.
