Eaton Canyon Landscape Oil Painting – Eaton Canyon Springtime
Eaton Canyon Springtime
16 x 20 oil on canvas
SOLD to a collector from Pasadena
Interested in this painting? Please write.
This spring, be sure to mark your calendar to visit Eaton Canyon in Altadena when the wildflowers are in bloom. There has been enough rain that we should probably have a good show again.
Eaton Canyon is one of my favorite painting spots within an easy drive of my home. Sometimes if I see that there are interesting clouds in the sky I try to get over there to have a look or paint a little.
Yesterday I enjoyed visiting the LA Art Show, sponsored by FADA (Fine Art Dealers Association.) Several of the dealers featured paintings by Edgar Payne and William Wendt, both of whom are icons of California impressionism. If I had a spare 80 or 90 thousand dollars maybe I’d buy a small one. But since I don’t, I contented myself with gazing at them longingly, and making mental notes about the painting. At home, I’ve been reading Nature’s Temple, a catalog of Wendt’s work and Edgar Payne’s classic book on composition. It’s a good thing I enjoy being a perpetual student of art in all its manifestations. There is always something new to see and to learn from.
Ojai Valley Painting Study
Ojai Valley Study
5″ x 7″ oil on canvas panel
SOLD
Here’s another small color study, as I organize my thoughts about painting this view in a larger size.
When we visited the William Wendt exhibit recently, at the Laguna Art Museum, I observed that he frequently used diagonals in the foreground, either in the form of a road or overlapping hills, to lead the eye into the picture. This scene provided the opportunity to experiment with that lead-in style. I see several things I would do differently in a larger painting, but this small study served its purpose.
If you’re in LA, please join me and 19 other artists for the Pasadena Society of Artists New Members Show reception. The place: White’s Art and Framing … 2414 Honolulu Blvd., Montrose, CA 91020 (818) 957-4071. Time: 2-4 pm.
Eaton Canyon Oil Landscape Painting Study
Eaton Canyon Color
5 x 7
oil on canvas on board
These small color studies are fun to do when I don’t have time to dedicate to a larger painting. I guess that’s the essence of being a “daily painter” isn’t it? No one really expects us to finish a large painting every day, but, like Jello, there’s always room for a small study.
Although there’s not a lot of wildflower color this time of year, the remnants of autumn brush still glow against the greys and browns of winter. Buckwheat is one plant that adds a ruddy hue to any landscape. I like the white boulders that gleam in the sunlight – I think they add an interesting sculptural touch and provide contrast to the soft foliage.
This small study may be the basis for a larger work sometime soon. And speaking of larger paintings, I’ve been working on a larger Eaton Canyon oil painting, 16 x 20 inches, and I will be putting it here soon.
Aspen Landscape Oil Painting – Aspen Grove
SOLD
Aspen Grove in the Sierras
11 x 14
oil on linen
Interested in this painting? Please write.
This painting is sold, but you can see more Sierra Nevada paintings here
Wow, where did the week go? I’ve been so busy doing various art marketing and selling tasks that I haven’t made time to post. That will be remedied very soon.
This is another in my ongoing Sierra fall series. The aspen grove pictured here is dwarfed by the steep uplift of the Sierra Nevada range, which literally rises like a wall from the Owens Valley floor. I was captivated by the contrast of the deep blue violet mountain in contrast with the warm bright foliage of the aspens. Sages and other late blooming wildflowers, nipped by the frost and tousled by the wind, provided an interesting foreground with some suggestion of motion.
Can you feel the autumn wind blowing down out of those peaks, causing golden leaves to quiver and fly away?
Tomorrow I’ll be taking a painting to White’s Gallery on Honolulu Ave. in Montrose for the Pasadena Society of Artists new member show. I was juried in last April, but the new member show is an annual event, so it’s a nice opportunity to show some work. The reception is January 24, 2-4 pm if you have the time to come by and see the works of 20 artists.
Pomegranate Orchard, impressionist oil painting
Pomegranate Orchard
11 x 14 oil on linen
SOLD (commission)
This was a very interesting project to do, and one which I thoroughly enjoyed. A woman wanted a painting of a pomegranate orchard to give to a loved one for a Christmas present. The man had grown up in a middle eastern country where such groves were common, and he had childhood memories of playing there. I had never painted in that country, nor did I have any usable reference material, but I did a little research and realized that the area had a mediterranean climate and that the geography looked much like parts of California. So, I used a late afternoon photograph of a grove in California and used local reference photos of pomegranate trees to create an imaginary composite, which I showed her for her approval. So, this was the result, and I understand that her friend was very happy with the result.
We all love to paint from real life whenever we can. But this is one of the occasions when it’s just not possible. That’s when we, as artists, draw upon our memory and study of nature, and from having painted so much outdoors that we can craft as scene as it might have been.
If you’d like to give a special painting to someone commemorating a place or an event, but you don’t have a picture to work from, we can probably come up with a solution, just like this orchard from long ago and far away.
Owens River Fishing Spot – California impressionist oil painting
“Owens River – A good day for fishing”
14 x 18 oil on canvas
SOLD to a lovely couple relocating to Montana
This new panting features what I’ve been told is one of the best fishing spots on the Lower Owens River. It’s near Highway 168 close to a place known to the locals as “Black Rock.” In the background you can see the Eastern Sierras and the Alabama Hllls, the choclatey brown lower range, still glowing in afternoon light. For many years, the water in the Owens River was diverted for Los Angeles. Now, some of the water flows again through local steams in the Owens Valley, and the landscape is recovering. I understand that some of the best bass fishing in California can be had in this spot. The day we were there a fisherwoman was doing well. I don’t have much experience with freshwater fishing, but this place looks like a little bit of heaven.
Because the painting is wet, it’s hard to get the look of the clouds without excessive reflection. There is detail in them; it’s just hard to see. I’ll try shooting this again when it dries.
Here’s a detail of just some of the native grasses:
Colorado Street Bridge Painting – California Impressionist Pasadena Landscape
SOLD
Across the Arroyo
9 x 12 oil on canvas on panel
(The Colorado Street Bridge, Autumn in the Arroyo Seco)
New, and available.
Yes, more sycamores. It’s the time of year when I want to capture them in all their glory, and if I can include my favorite bridge, all the better.
Just looking at this view makes me happy. And painting it, well, I can get downright giddy around these trees.
Yosemite Painting – Autumn, Merced River Fall Color
“Yosemite Autumn”
15″ x 22″ watercolor on paper
SOLD
See more of my Yosemite paintings here
Interested in this painting? Please write by clicking this link
The colors of fall dazzle when caught, reflected in the serene waters of the Merced River. This large (half-sheet) watercolor takes advantage of the range of Yosemite’s beauty and is a preview of some new work I’ll be showing this year, both in watercolor and in oil.
When I’m exhibiting at a public show, one of the questions that people ask me most frequently is “which do you prefer painting, watercolor or oil?” It’s a hard question because the two media are so different in some ways, yet so similar in fundamental ways. For the sheer excitement of painting with all the unpredictability and opportunity for “happy accidents” you just can’t beat watercolor. Take a look at the luminous reflections in the water, for example, they were created with a wet into wet technique. You can certainly paint water in oil (and I do it all the time) but you can’t get a look exactly like that. Oil allows you the luxury of correcting mistakes more easily. Watercolor (especially when working with staining colors) can be very unforgiving. The short answer is, I love them both, for different reasons and I find that what I learn in one medium can often be applied to the other even though paint handling is different. The basics … color, line, shape, value, feeling, interpretation, composition … these things do not change and translate easily from medium to medium.
Here’s a closeup of just a detail of one of the trees. This would actually make a nice painting, enlarged, all on its own. Hmmmm, wheels turning … stay tuned.
California’s Rolling Hills – Impressionist Landscape Oil Painting
California’s Rolling Hills
9 x 12 oil on canvas panel
SOLD, but I have more rolling hill landscapes.
Please visit my landscape painting page.
I can’t count the times we’ve driven back and forth through California’s beautiful hills, decorated with stands of live oak trees. When we were first married we took many photo trips up and down the coastline, and these canyons and byways around Monterey were some of our favorite haunts. I never tire of painting them. Soon, these curvaceous hills will be covered with green grasses, a harbinger of spring. It doesn’t take long for the gold to turn to green.
Cottonwood Dawn — California Impressionist Oil Painting – Eastern Sierras
Cottonwood Dawn
(near Bishop, California)
16 x 20 oil on canvas
SOLD
Ths painting is sold but I have others of the Sierras in the fall. Write me.
Although the leaves are now fallen and scattered by the wind, the eastern Sierras still call me and evoke memories of golden glory. I understand that snow sometimes falls in Bishop, in the Owens Valley, but that it doesn’t stay on the ground long. How I’d love to go back there and see these meadows and cottonwoods clad in downy white. Maybe later in the season – I hope!
