Donald Neff

Spreckels

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Before 1994, the only people who could see this viewpoint were US soldiers.  Overlooking the Salinas Valley from Fort Ord, in the distance is the old community of Spreckels.  

Spreckels, 22×28, oil on canvas

Most Americans have used or heard of Spreckels Sugar.  I remember it a staple in our pantry growing up.  The town of Spreckels was established by Claus Spreckels in 1898 as a company town to provide a complete community (including store, school, hotel, church, theater, etc.) for employees of the Spreckels Sugar Company.   When built, the Spreckels Factory #1 was the largest and most innovative sugar beet factory in the world. It operated here from 1898 to 1982, and was demolished in 1992. 

After decommissioning Ft Ord in 1994, it was gradually turned into a national monument with over 86 miles of paved roads, dirt roads, and trails.  Viewpoints of the monument abound of Monterey Bay, the surrounding communities, along with Salinas and the Salinas Valley.  Promoters call the Salinas Valley “the Salad Bowl of the World” for the production of lettuce, broccoli, peppers and numerous other crops. 

Since last May, I have been riding my RAD Rover 6+ electric bike all over Ft Ord National Monument, usually with several friends.  This painting is from one of those rides along Sandstone Ridge Road overlooking the Salinas Valley with Spreckels in the background.  The farming area below the ridge is Merrill Home Ranch, started in 1916, and grows a wide variety of produce.

I post a few biking pictures on Facebook from time to time, but for those who missed it, here are a couple…

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Lobos Crash Revisited

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My last weblog entry introduced a new studio painting from a recent trip to Pt Lobos. You can read about it here. It was a good piece as-is, but after looking at it for awhile, decided it need a little more dramatic early morning light. The study I used was a photo taken about mid day and the scene was fully lit, which is kind of the way I painted it. Here is the original photo which I used as a study for the painting.

So, I spent today touching it up a bit to add more shadows, putting a little more color in the large wave, and other minor touchups. You can see the before and after by moving the sliding bar back and forth. The newer version is on the right.

Lobos Crash!!, 18×24, oil on canvas

I hope everyone thinks it’s an improvement!

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Lobos Crash!!

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My last weblog, “Stupendous!!” was about painting at Pt Lobos State Natural Reserve in January with the Monterey Bay Plein Air Painters.  It was a great day and the painting turned out pretty well.  Recent storms had been battering the California Coast for much of January, and I have never experienced surf that high while at the preserve.  Waves were pounding and crashing the rocky coast, sometimes splashing, as a guess, over 30 feet high.  You could feel the thundering surf on your chest!! 

It’s been awhile since I have completed a studio painting, so did a painting of one of the crashing waves from that day.    The scene is from near the China Cove parking lot looking back towards Hidden Beach.   The lower cliffs behind the wave are 10-15 feet high, so I am guessing this splash was at least 30 feet high!

I might touch it up a bit more, but doesn’t need much!

Lobos Crash!!, 18×24, oil on canvas

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Stupendous!!

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The greatest meeting of land and water in the world.

–Landscape artist Francis McComas
Carmel Highlands, 8×16, oil on board

Point Lobos is not too far from my new home in Marina.  Considered the crown jewel of California’s coastal state parks, the views are endless and I could spend a lifetime painting just there.  Although I have painted there more times than I can count, it had been awhile!

The Monterey Bay Plein Air Painters were meeting there, so joined in.  Usually these paint-outs are as much a social event as creating great paintings.  Today, I wanted to do a good piece for possible upcoming shows, so went early, prior to the 10 o’clock meeting time, arriving before 9 am.   I was astounded being the first car in the parking lot!  Usually it’s full and congested all day long.  Although the artists were scattered over a wide area, my guess is about a dozen showed up for the paint-out.

The surf was still high from recent storms, and the biggest I have seen in the preserve.  WOW!!  Waves were pounding and crashing the rocky coast, sometimes splashing, as a guess, over 30 feet high.  You could feel the thundering surf on your chest!!  Stupendous!!

I took a little hand trolley to haul my equipment, hiked around to the south part of the preserve and painted a scene looking south.  The coast along this area is called Carmel Highlands, with a number of mansions clinging over the rocky cliffs.  The famous photographer Ansel Adams lived there in his later years, and Clint Eastwood and other Hollywood luminaries  own quite a bit of property there.  His production company, Malpaso Productions is named after a creek there.  The Eastwood movie “Play Misty for Me” was mostly filmed there, among many, many, others.

Spending a little over two hours, got a ‘keeper’.  Although I was painting from Point Lobos State Preserve, actually, none of the preserve is in the painting!  As usual, I might touch it up a bit. Simplifying the surf a bit, and add a few more strategically placed rocks, might help, but doesn’t really need much.

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The Sea Otters Realm

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It has been raining seemingly nonstop since Christmas and with my son in town for the holidays, there has been no time to paint. Today was the first day out painting since the new year. I joined the Monterey Bay Plein Air Painters at Lover’s Point in Pacific Grove, CA.

The surf was still high from the recent storms, so we had quite a bit of wave action on the rocks. Here’s a few photos of the day—

I painted a little over an hour of the rocks at Lover’s point, it turned out OK. With a little touchup, it’s probably a keeper!

It was a sunny and glorious day. As we painted, I could see a few sea otters just offshore enjoying the sunshine and their fresh caught seafood.

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Kathleen Dunphy

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Considered one of the top traditional artists in California, Kathleen Dunphy has always been on my list of favorite artists.  The California Art Club was sponsoring a demo by Kathleen in Pacific Grove, and I was anxious to attend.  At first it was a little iffy if it would happen as quite a few rainy weather fronts had been coming through the area.  The location of the demo in Pacific Grove is a familiar place for artists in the area.  About every artist I know, including me, has painted there many times.

The weather was very misty on arrival, but cleared up enough for Kathleen to do her demo.  Due to the weather, rather than painting something larger, she chose a small 6×8 canvas size.  Frankly, I was surprised there wasn’t a large crowd.  With Kathleen’s reputation, I expected a large group, but only about 8 showed up.  I also expected a lot of anxious newby artists, but just about everyone there was an A-List professional.  Perhaps it was the inclement weather.  

Kathleen painted and talked for about two hours and the painting turned out great. Like she said, her demos are how to start a painting!

It was an enjoyable, intimate morning, and glad I attended.  A few techniques Kathleen used, I plan on trying soon in my never ending endeavors in the art world.

Below are a few pictures of the event…

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2022 Magnificent Miniatures Holiday Sale

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Looking for a totally unique custom gift for the holiday season which will last a lifetime? These little paintings make great holiday gifts. This year I am also including notecards and books on sale. This is the biggest discount I ever sell my paintings, up to 70% off. Most prices are for unframed originals, however if the frame is shown, it is included. Shipping is free in the continental US. If you are interested, just email me at donald@donaldneff.com.

Just click on the link to see what’s available…

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Let’s Do It Again!

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The California Art Club was having a paint out at Garrapata State Park on Saturday, November 5. This was the same group, and same location as last January when I painted a piece which eventually got a first place in a MBPAPA show. So, why not join in again!

It’s only about half an hour drive from my home, and I took off a little early as parking can get full. Besides being a scenic place, it is the jumping off place for a number of trails going into the Big Sur Wilderness.

A good sized group showed up, maybe not quite as many as last January. I painted for a couple hours, and quit a little before I was completely satisfied with the piece as the wind was starting to kick up, and I had other items on the agenda that afternoon,…

Below are a few pictures of the day…

Before I started painting
Paul Kratter
Around the time I quit

After a little touchup in the studio, the finished piece is shown below. I think it’s a keeper.

Garrapata Cliffs, 9×12, oil on panel, plein air

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We Love Minis!!!

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I have been working on a number of new miniatures to show in various venues over the holidays including my annual Magnificent Miniatures Holiday sale.

I love mini’s because I can experiment with small pieces which I might want to do a larger painting and also do smaller and affordable versions of larger paintings. After this crop (seen below), I definitely want to do a few larger pieces of several.

Although, not quite sure which painting I will place in which show, here is a preview of five 6×6 inch squared I have done over the last couple weeks. Click on each painting to see a larger version. On a web browser, the paintings should show actual size of 6×6 inches.

Stay tuned for more!!

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The 7th Hole, Pebble Beach

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7th Hole, Pebble Beach

The 7th hole on the famous Pebble Beach Golf Course is one of the most iconic in the world.  The par 3 hole probably shouldn’t exist, is the shortest on the PGA TOUR at just 106 yards, and considered one of the most beautiful spots on the planet. 

The Knights of the Vine chapter in Monterey for the past 30 years have had a party on the Sheltered Cove pier by the Beach & Tennis Club in Pebble Beach, CA.  I was invited to sit and paint during the party after a long time collector, Sue, recommended me to the current chapter Command, Richard Kehoe. 

After several false starts on the best place to set up on the pier, I started the painting around 11.  The event was to begin at 12, and I had until about 2 to finish.  I decided to paint Arrowhead Point overlooking Sheltered Cove.  Partway through the painting, some of the golfers told me it was the famous 7th hole, hence the title. 

It’s totally unpredictable how a plein air painting might turn out, and in this case, thankfully, even though it was overcast all day, it turned out pretty good.   So well, in fact, there was a bit of a bidding war among the attendees, and sold fresh off the easel.

Here are few pictures of the day.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get a great picture of the painting, which I also framed for the collector.

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