“Fire in Ojai” - 11 in. x 7 in. Watercolor on 140# paper
Yes, there is a theme this week in my painting - clouds and skies. This one came about for a few different reasons.
1) I was looking for a different kind of cloud to paint
2) I […]

Arroyo Path - 13.5 in x 10 in. - Watercolor on paper
Another sky watercolor, this time a little closer to home. About five minutes from home, in fact, in the northern part of the arroyo that goes down through Pasadena. This painting is based on a photo I took at […]

French Broad River - 14.1 inches by 9.5 inches - Available
This painting represents a bit of a turning point for me, and one that I hope takes me into new and interesting directions. The painting is of the French Broad River above Asheville, North Carolina, from a monochrome picture more […]

Autumn Falls - 15 in x 11 in (quarter sheet) - Watercolor on paper
Yes, I was in a very fauve mood when I painted this one - born partly from imagination and partly from a few reference photos of streams and fall foliage. I love our dark California oaks, soft chapparal and […]

“Two Bottles” 4 in. x 6 in. Oil on gessoed hardboard - shown approximately life size.
So far, the only transparent surface I’ve attempted in oil was the hurricane lamp, painted a month or so ago. So when a reference photo was posted for the weekend event at Wet Canvas I decided […]

7.5″ x 11″ - Watercolor on 140# paper. Available.
It looks like an oak to me. In fact, I’ve seen trees at Descanso Gardens that look just about identical, from a distance. But the photographer who took the reference photo in New Zealand for the Wet Canvas all media event says it’s a pohutukawa […]

Pine at the Dam - 4 x 6 inches - Oil on gessoed masonite
Another late afternoon impression of our Southern Californian landscape. This time a pine on the edge of a scrubby hillside - about 5 pm.
Hazy overcast makes the light scatter, removing hard shadows and washing out bright colors.
This very small painting fits easily […]

Near the Dam 4″ x 6″ - Oil on gessoed masonite
It had been our intention to head up into the Angeles National Forest today, but the hazy cloud cover convinced me that the colors would all be too muted to make the trek worthwhile. So, at the end of […]

Rosarium November - 8 x 10 inches - oil on canvasboard. A view of the Descanso Gardens Rosarium.

Yesterday I went to my beloved Descanso Gardens with the intention of doing some painting, but for the first time in a long while, my heart just wasn’t in it. Maybe I was still preoccupied […]

Study of a chicken … 5″ x 6″ - gouache on recycled paper
I thought the recycled paper worked well for this. In fact, the little bits of fiber in the paper reminded me of the sort of straw and dust found in barnyard environments and gave me a nice midtone to work against.