Continuing the ˜Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley™ year long quest.
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The world’s first true plein air selfie**. No mirrors or photographs were used in painting this self portrait of me in the landscape, but it was painted on location by myself, actually looking at myself. It is certainly the first hi-tech plein air selfie!
Most artists in their lifetime paint at least one self portrait which takes many forms, usually an actual portrait, or for some landscape artists, themselves in the landscape. One of my favorites is Norman Rockwell’s triple self portrait–

I generally don’t paint people, so have never attempted any self portraits and really had no great desire to. What prompted me to do this was my son, Justin, and, well, maybe a little hi-tech fun. Justin has always wanted me to do a self portrait, so last year as he was jetting off to Japan to teach English for several years, he made me promise to do a self portrait, at least a landscape or something with me in it, sometime in the next year or so. So to fulfill a promise, here goes…
So, how did I do this? No photos. No mirrors. Alone. It’s all in the latest hi-tech gear. I used a a GoPro camera, and an iPad. The GoPro camera is a high definition video sports camera taking the sports world by storm with it’s crisp videos of surfers, skydivers, skateboarders, divers, high flying drones, and just about any other sport you can name. A GoPro was used to record the time-lapse video in The Painting of TwentyFive: Where Redwoods Thrive. The videos produced are amazing, with a whole new class of amateur and professional videography emerging. You can see a lot of more them here.
The tiny GroPro camera itself has no viewfinder or LCD screen, but you can control and see through the lens live via an iPhone, iPad, or other smart phone, tablet, etc. transmitting via WiFi (a wireless network).
I effectively was using the GoPro as a remote closed circuit high definition camera. The GoPro camera was set on a tripod at the scene and basic viewpoint to be painted. Since I was to be in the scene, I first scoped everything out setting my easel up where I wanted to be in the scene and had to move the easel back and forth a bit during the painting. Below are a sequences of pictures to show you from different cameras how I did it.
Click on a thumbnail to open up a larger picture and slide show.
The creek is Calabazas which I also painted in ThirtyOne: A Setting Sun. The previous painting was a tonal sunset right by the bay, but today’s painting reflects how pretty this little creek is, channelled to the bay. The creek was still running in spite of the severe drought. The location is close to Hwy 101, Mission College, and the Mercado shopping area. As I was finishing, a group of locals walking the trail stopped and mentioned how they and their kids had grown up in the area, playing along the creek, and how much the Calabazas meant to them. I can see why.
So, what next? Drones with GoPro cameras are all the rage…hmmm…a plein air from a drone? Naaa.
Justin, this one is for you!
Everyone have a great Fourth of July!
Click this link for a map of all painting locations along with each painting.
Click on this link for a Pinterest catalog of all paintings so far.
**If someone disputes this, please let me know!
***Email subscribers may not see all pictures. Just click on the title for a link to the online version.
Very clever of you, Don!
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That was clever, Don, Ray & I both got a smile out of it but I rather doubt that this was what Justin meant! It is a nice painting in any case! I enjoy seeing your Plein Air paintings never having been in that area of California. Keep it up. Maybe you could turn around and face the camera at some site and paint what you see on the screen?? =) That way you’d get the creek & your face!!