“Boat House”, oil on panel, 8×10, $320
Another painting from our trip to Tomales Bay. When I started this painting I was in full sun, and by the end the fog had moved in and changed the light completely.
Archive for July, 2008
Boat House
Thursday, July 31st, 2008Study in Blue
Wednesday, July 30th, 2008
“Study in Blue”, oil on panel, 5×7, $75
Last weekend we took a day to do a long and scenic drive out to Marshall, where I ate BBQ oysters and Cheri had chowder. I stopped to do several paintings along the way, and this one is my hands down favorite. Sometimes a painting just comes together seemingly without any intervention on my part, and this painting was like that. Mixing colors to evoke the subtle differences in blues can be challenging, but I felt I hit the different blues right from the start, and so the painting stayed fresh all the way through.
Campfire
Monday, July 28th, 2008
“Campfire”, oil on panel, 5×7, $75
While camping at Salt Point the other weekend, Cheri built a fire in the fire ring at our campsite. I decided to take a stab at painting it, because I really liked the contrast of the geometric shapes of the fire ring with the more organic shapes of the fire and logs. I’ve never tried painting fire before, and I’m not sure how successful it is, but I like the simplicity of it.
On an administrative note, I’m in the process of moving my blog to a new location. There’s some technical issues I’m still working out, so in the meantime I’m posting to both locations. Those of you getting my posts via email don’t have to do anything to keep receiving emails, although if the posts start looking odd, I’d appreciate a note letting me know.
Russian Gulch
Friday, July 25th, 2008
“Russian Gulch” oil on panel, 5×7, $75
Another from our trip up the coast. This is also just North of Jenner.
North Coast Fog
Thursday, July 24th, 2008
“North Coast Fog” oil on panel, 5×7, $75
I painted this standing in a pullout along Highway 1 North of Jenner. I really liked the way the fog made the distant trees almost disapear. Just as I was finishing, the fog suddenly lifted, so I’m glad I was able to capture this moment before it changed.
Wind on Water
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
“Wind on Water”, oil on panel, 5×7, $75
Cheri and I spent this past weekend camping at Salt Point State Park, one of my favorite places on the coast. Friday afternoon we hiked from our campsite down to Gerstle Cove. The hike turned out to be more of an adventure than we anticipated, involving downed trees across the path, and a certain amount of getting lost. But in the end we found the ocean and I settled down in the shelter of some coastal pines and painted this picture.
Laguna Oak
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
“Laguna Oak”, oil on panel, 11×14, $425
We’re in a common summer morning fog weather pattern here in Northern California. Sometimes I like painting in the fog because the light stays so constant, at least until the fog burns off. But right now my tomatoes could use a little more sun.
New Blog Home
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008It’s rough around the edges, but this will be my new blog home.
Small Barn
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008
“Small Barn”, oil on panel, 5×7, $75
I’ve eyed this barn for a while now as a potential painting subject. It’s actually much more decrepit than it looks in this little painting and has a great cupola, but I got distracted by the mowed stripes in the field. Just another reason to go back.
California Hills
Tuesday, July 8th, 2008
“California Hills” oil on panel, 11×14
I never get tired of the blue-ness of distant hills.