plein air

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.

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