Halloween!

It's really Fall now - leaves that can turn, have; a bit colder weather, shorter days and of course wildfires all over California.
Closed up the Sierra cabin for winter, but made a little painting time as well. These are all small quick studies. 

early morning lake, 5"x7" oil on panel

exposed tree stumps, 5"x7" oil on panel

old tree stump and roots, 5"x7" oil on panel

roadside shack, 5"x7" oil on panel

And after harvesting our beautiful blue Hokkaido squash, I had to do a still-life:

harvest still-life, 10"x10" oil on panel

And one last one, from a friends fig tree - beautiful purple figs with their leaves:

figs, 6"x10" oil on panel

Gouaches

I will be participating in the Santa Paula Art Museum's Annual juried "Art about Agriculture" exhibition. 64 pieces were chosen out of over 200 entries.
My small gouache of a pump house in a Salinas field is the accepted piece:

Salinas Pump House, 4"x4" gouache on WC board

The gouache paintings sometimes start on site and then are finished in the studio with photo and color references. These are small 'table' work pieces, where I sit at my drafting table and paint carefully mixing and layering the paint. I've been working on this series of 'small shacks' for several years now. Whenever I come across an interesting looking little structure, I'm always drawn to it - fascinated by what it's purpose is or was, who made it, why it's there. 

I like the small scale of the paintings, because it suits the subject matter of the small buildings.

Field shack, Los Alamos, 5 1/2"x6"

Dam Keeper's house, Sierras 5 1/2"x6"

Old Cabin Barn, Sierras 5 1/2"x6"

Remember the Virtues, Isla Vista beach, 5 1/2"x6"

It would be fun to show all of these together sometime - they would make a nice grouping.

Falling into October

Monday painting has been a constant, satisfying endeavor. Libby Smith and I -sometimes another painting pal, Karen McGaw - go out as steadfastly as we can to paint plein air somewhere. We've been at the beach a lot, working on cliffs and beach scenes, back to the River area, all around the foothills always looking for something interesting and challenging. Here are the last two outings:

dry creek, Paradise road, oil on panel, 8"x10"

beached sailboat, oil on panel, 8"x10"

The other constant has been my Tuesday night Figure Painting class, with Rick Stich. I haven't posted many (or any!) of those paintings, but it has been as steady as our plein air Mondays. I usually do one painting for the session, even though we have 2 weeks with the same pose. Here's last weeks effort:

Monica, oil on panel, 8"x10"

de la Tierra

Really excited about today's event:

This show will feature both gouaches and oil paintings. All work is framed and available through Global Eye Art and Wendy Foster, Los Olivos, CA.

river shack, gouache 6"x4"

Nojoqui falls, gouache 4"x6"

Jameson lake, oil on panel, 6"x12"

River Park, Lompoc, gouache 3"x6"

Tamarisk, oil on panel, 24"x30"

september catch up

Now that it's October 1st, it's time to go through September paintings. We've been steady with our Monday painting schedule and have spent the time painting the local coastline and cliffs. 

coal oil point, 8"x8" oil on panel

late summer beach day, 8"x10" oil on panel

Saturday paint-out day with CAC

hendry's beach, 8"x10" oil on panel

goleta beach, gouache on WC panel, 6"x8"

Sierra time

Not as much time at the cabin this year - too many other things going on. We're heading up this week though so it will be good to have that mountain air and blue sky.
Last trip I did a few wildflower studies:

sierra wallflower, 6x8" oil on panel

coneflower, 5x7" oil on panel

pinedrops, 6x8" oil on panel

Dog Days of Summer

Typically cool overcast mornings and hot muggy afternoons - no fun going out in the morning to paint, so trying the late afternoon has been more interesting.
The beach is always cooler and the cliffs and rocks are always a challenge to paint. Did try Paradise road one day earlier in the summer - hot and lots of flies, but nice to see water still flowing in the river.

overcast afternoon, 1000 steps  8"x10" oil on panel

sunny afternoon, mesa lane steps, 8"x8" oil on panel

sunny afternoon, hendrys beach, 9"x12" oil on panel

afternoon, shoreline steps, 8"x10" oil on panel

early morning Goleta bach, 8"x10" oil on panel

hot day at white rock, 8"x10" oil on panel