The Road To The Outback, value study 6x8 oil

This is the second study.  I was pleased to have enough time to get the point across and not enough time to "noodle".  I would like to go back out and do both of these again in color or make a few color notes and use the values study, the notes and photos to do a studio piece.  This I think is my goal for 09.  I want to work on developing more finished studio pieces from my plein air paintings and studies.  Okay I said it.

Out for A Walk, Value Study 8x6 oil

I went back out to Irvine Regional Friday with Kim VanderHoek and Dana Cooper.  We found this nice little area sort of off the main area to paint.  I had decided to to work in values.  I had the chance to do 2 studies.  This was the first one.  It was a beautiful day with sun coming in and out of clouds.  We did get a nice period of sun which cast some very good shadows.  I thought it was difficult to find the gray I needed to show a brilliant green and other colors as well.  I love color and I kept wanting to grab for tubes of color and just give up on the study for study sake.  In the end I am glad I did this and hope it will help me in future paintings.  Values are something I need to work at much more.  They are at the top of the list.         

What a Pear 8x10 oil

Okay, it was another Friday night painting session.  I find these to be more about fun than anything.  Just trying to get those pieces of paint on the canvas in some thought based order.  It is fun to just mix and put it down and see.  Anyway it was a good time and I got time with my dear friend and my husband got to watch "The Joker" in "The Dark Night".  The sound coming from that movie is scary. 

Study of the Riverbed at O'Neal Regional 8x10

This was a wonderful day out at O'Neal Regional Park.  Greg LaRock, who I have studied with through workshops, offered a day of appreciation to all of his past students.  He did a demo in the morning, fed us a wonderful lunch and worked with everyone one of us during our own painting AND! offered to critique any painting we were working on and brought along.  He is a talented teacher and just a generous guy.  Throughout his demo he shared just about every thought step by step.  He discussed and tried things and then changed them and discussed why.  It was a great day.

Now for me.  By the time I actually got painting I was a bit tire and had eaten lunch and a wonderful chocolate chip cookie, provided by Greg LaRock.  I got out there and worked out 3 different under paintings which I wiped off.  This is big for me.  My natural instinct is to beat the dead horse and go home defeated.  So by the time I got to #4 and kept it on the canvas there was not much time left in the day.  So it became a good beginning, a sketch or just not done.  That's okay because it was truly a great day.  Any day painting is a great day of learning just a little bit more about this wonderful thing we do as artist and students of creativity.  

Blue, Green, Orange 6x6 oil sold

I have not had the time to paint lately. That can be frustrating as painting is so enriching to my spirit. Kind of like meditation. I had a chance to get together with a dear friend and we decided to paint a small still life and spent some time talking. It was very nice and well, I had a brush in hand and paint out, what could be better? I think I had more fun getting the paint down and playing in color. It felt good. It was not about the painting.

Thanks Cindy for coming by and painting and talking. It did my spirit good.

Mary Undone 18x12 pastel on wallis

It is "Mary Undone", because it is not finished and I will probably not finish this one.  Not happy where it was going and spent way too much time messing with it.  Time to move on.  

Mary is one of the most elegant woman I know and a fine painter.  I just don't think I was doing her justice.  She is also very kind and a pleasure to know.  Yes, she was wearing white while painting with oil.    

Tree in the Canyon 18x12 pastel on wallis SOLD

This is my favorite tree to paint. Late afternoon light is challenging because it is so luminous and fleeting. This was done from a photo which is good in someways (light stays still) and disappointing in other ways (the camera just does not pick up the beautiful color of late afternoon). I am taking a photoshop class where I hope I might be able to put some of the things that makes me want to paint a subject like this...back in the photo.

Still stumbling around with my pastels. Just trying to find that old comfort level and confidence to be a little more sure of what I am doing. I think I need to paint all the time. Not happy with values and color in the shadows. Needs the rich late afternoon contrasts. So, I just keep painting

Just Off Highway 15, San Diego 12x18 pastel on Wallis Board SOLD

I am happy to get back to painting after a busy week at work. I have not done much with pastels these last few months focusing all my energy on oil. There is a rhythm I feel when doing pastels in touch and knowing what each (out of hundreds) piece of color will do. It is like anything we do in life it must be practiced to retain that rhythm and knowledge. So I returned today. Too cold to go out with rain coming and going. I looked through photos to find something to do. After setting up my pastel station with just my plein air gear (less to think about) I got started.

I start on wallis board by Dakota with a basic drawing done with a Nupastel dark. I basically lay in my values and then lay over a thin coat of turpentine using a brush and let it dry. My hope in doing this is to stay to a value plan. I usually do a small value notan to start off. From the beginning to the end it is a play of colors and values. Oh how I love the color and fear it too. Pure pigments are strong and really depend on the color that sits beside it to create harmony. I do not blend. I would say that I build layer over layer to get the finished color and texture. So let me know what you think. When working alone in studio it is nice to call upon such a great group of artists for feedback.

To those of you who have been working out in snow and extreme temperatures, I say, "you are inspiring"... True Plein Air Painters!

After The Rain 14x11

Once again it was a rainy day.  I found some photos I had taken on a late afternoon drive coming home on Santiago Canyon Road.  I love clouds.  They have a way of taking me into the moment with no other thought, but their majestic beauty.  It is a peace like no other.

Old Town Afternoon 6x8 oil SOLD

It was an opening in the rain we have been having and a chance to paint. Old Town Orange is a fun place to walk and eat and enjoy a different visual experience.

I was fortunate to have a painting buddy, Dana Cooper, along to walk the town with, take some photos and find a little piece of pavement to set up and paint. The light was amazing , but fleeting as the clouds would blow in and out. So amazing how light changes and you find yourself chasing it or stopping and taking what you caught. We had a few hours before the clouds moved in to stay and the rain came down.

Over Drinks 6x6 oil

It is raining outside, which has caused me to look through photos.  This was an afternoon at Sapphire Restaurant in Laguna Beach.  I liked the light coming through the window against the shadowy interior.  

Parking Lot 15 8x10 oil

Now today was a good day.  I think I finally got the light.  All the greens are starting to make sense.  I actually saw this view a week or so ago and loved the light of the sun against the cool shadows of the hillside.  I was pleased that I stayed true to the plan and was able to pull the lights forward.

Down In The River Bed... Again 10x10 oil

The one above is slightly more saturated and might be more accurate color.

Yesterday I got the chance to go out and paint with Dana Cooper and Kim Vanderhoek.  It was a nice day and actually got pretty warm.  In an attempt to get out of this funk I'm in I just tried to stay loose and have fun with paint.  

Thanks to everyone that commented on my last post.  It was a shot in the arm and well appreciated.

Onions 14x11 oil

I am still processing what I am learning from painting almost everyday.  I feel some pressure.  I have recognized areas I need to work on, like color, value and myself.  I have this desire to paint what I see.  It is almost a noose around my neck at times.  I fear looking away and letting what I know take over.  I stay true to the colors that are there instead of the colors I dream about.  Life is pretty grey.  So I continue to work at these things.  I think at the root of all of this is the fear to just let go.  To feel the color and feel passionate about what I am trying to say.  The other thought is that I am not sure what I want to say and that I choose to just document.  I have grown tire of that and have found myself with heels dug deep, only to find that I am not happy and must break free.  

I am and always have been a student.  I have an academic approach and have held steady to that.  I think there is much more inside.  I love to paint and maybe that is all I need to keep doing and let the process evolve.  I think too much.