Spring Bloom 8" x 10"

Went to Irvine Park to paint yesterday. I drove all over that park before picking a spot to stop. I just could not make up my mind. After thinking about it I realized how uncomfortable I am to paint alone. I am so use to having someone tell me where to go and what to paint. Fear is a very debilitating thing and if I truly want to paint plein air I best get over it. Don't worry I painted very close to the entrance where the ranger was letting the cars into the park. I figured if I screamed someone would hear me...just kidding...I think.

Through My Kitchen Window 6" x 6" oil

Just about to put my Easter decorations away and thought I would paint the scene from my kitchen table. I like things in 3s because I have 3 boys. Anyway, little ceramic bunnies are cute and very difficult to paint to look like, at the very least a bunny and even more a ceramic finish. So here is my attempt. I started this in the morning while the lights in the kitchen were out. During that time my husband was preparing to leave for work and turned the lights on and stood for a spell in front of the window I was attempting to paint. That was ok cause we had sometime together before he was off to work. I never really got back to what I saw originally that inspired me to paint this little thing...maybe the bunnies and just thinking about my boys XOXO.

Model 10" x 8" oil

I had a lot of fun painting with color.

Pam 10" x 8"

Day with a model

Old Irvine 18" x 14" oil

Did this one the week before the last one, on location. This is the site of a new public library in Irvine. These buildings and this working field were kept as a piece of history. Directly to the left is a Target and a mega shopping center, but just for today all of that does not exist.

Plein Air?? 18" x 14"

I have the question marks because I was outside painting, but.......... The painting is a montage of everything that we could see. That is to say there was a house, a hill, a path, a group of trees in the foreground, a group of trees in the background and a distant mountain. We just put them together to create a new scene. This made figuring the light and shadow and, and, and, even more difficult than it is to actually paint what I see, hum. So I had fun and quit thinking I could be home in bed making up scenes to paint in my head and I just painted. It was a good exercise...thank you Tom Brown.

Model Day

Charcoal on drawing paper 17" x 14"
Ink wash and pen on vellum bristol board 17" x 14"
Oil on white gesso masonite board 10" x 8"
Oil on cad red wash canvas 10" x 8"

A Day in the Park 8" x 10" oil

Saturday ended up being a very nice day in the park. I have been to this park more times than I can count. I remember even trying to paint these rocks and bridge before in pastel with less luck. I was happy to do it again and felt I had a pretty successful day. I felt very challenged in trying to paint the sky in and around the leaf clusters.
I go out and paint with Tom Brown and other painters. Tom always pushes the color and creates these beautiful colored landscapes. I always want to stick to what I see, however gray it may be. I am trying to find the middle ground. I know that there are many beautiful colors in our hazy California landscape. So I am happy with this. I feel true to myself and I see color too.

A Walk to the Dock 9" x 12" oil

I had a plein air day out on Balboa Island. Everyone was painting the Pavilion and I wanted to do something different. I am just trying to find subjects on my own. I really want to find my own subject matter and paint it. It makes me ask what excites me about a subject. What I do with that isn't always what I thought it would be, but I figure eventually I will start putting it together.
This was a very gray day. It had been raining up by my house and it was just cold down on the island. I saw this private pier and dock and liked the reflection of the boat covers in the water. I also liked the way the pier cut across the picture to the dock and divided the canvas. Also the distant houses and palm trees divide the upper part of the canvas. I like practicing muted geometric shape that make up buildings in the distance.
Well everything was gray and it took a lot to see any color. Also dealing with the white railing was difficult. This is one I will try again hopefully on a sunnier day. By the time I got in my car the temp had dropped 15 degrees and it was starting to rain.