October 7, 2007
California Coast North of Elk, CA
Thanks to everyone who commented and followed along with me on the California coast trip. I hadn’t done that before even though I grew up in California. It was fun and challenging. Honestly though, next time I’m thinking I’ll have to choose an area and just stay there to paint. I found myself choosing between several really great spots to paint because I was limited on time. Twenty days just isn’t enough time for all of the beautiful spots on the CA coast.
Half Moon Bay, CA
Carmel, CA
Carmel River Beach, CA
A few of my favorites to paint were Carmel, Elk and the Big Sur coastline. The number of great places to paint in Big Sur was almost overwhelming. Julia Pfeiffer beach seemed like such a beautiful place to paint but by the time we arrived there was only another 30 minutes of daylight.
Julia Pfeiffer Beach, CA
Pfeiffer Beach, CA
Bixby Bridge Big Sur Coastline (my wife peeking over the edge)
I hope you enjoyed following along with me. I’ve been thinking I’d love to do a trip like this on the East coast. We’ll see…
Now back to painting…
Sunset Beach, CA (near Monterey)
September 28, 2007
Crescent Bay Beach oil on linen panel 8×6 in.
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Just beyond the hill from this scene are the main Northern Laguna beaches. If you’re familiar with the area you probably know that the main beach is not as quiet as the surrounding ones. Crescent Bay Point Park was calmer in comparison and ended up being the better spot for me to paint today.
Getting close to the end of the trip. I’m realizing that I could take this trip twenty more times and never paint the same thing twice. There are so many beautiful spots along the California coast that I didn’t have the time to see let alone paint.
September 24, 2007
I took a slight detour over the weekend. I popped on over to Monrovia, CA to attend an artist friend’s show, William Wray. I discovered his work about 2 years ago on his blog and I really enjoyed seeing all his work on display together. It was good to chat with him and see his paintings which depict mostly run down rural areas of Southern California; finding the beauty in things that often are considered un-beautiful or in his words “Dirty Beauty”. Great show Bill!
You can see more of his work on his blog.
Segil Fine Art left: William Wray right: me
September 23, 2007
Santa Barbara Palms oil on linen panel 8×6 in.
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Saturday morning was a rainy day in Santa Barbara… I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get out and paint. By noon the rain went away and left a very blue sky with some straggling clouds. My intention was to set up on the beach facing the ocean but as I was standing there I turned around and saw this scene. The lines of the palm tree tops were echoed in the mountains, the clouds and the ground plane where the ice plant met the sand. I just couldn’t resist painting it. I am a sucker for this kind of composition, where the horizontal lines are the emphasis.
September 21, 2007
We’ve seen some great sunsets so far.
The two above were taken at Half Moon Bay. The range of color was really nice… the photos don’t do it justice.
These two were taken at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse. The buildings to the right are part of the hostel where we stayed.
I snapped this one as we were driving on the Big Sur coastline on Hwy. 1. I liked the contrast of the orange setting sun against the blues of the Eastern sky.
September 16, 2007
This was a nice little spot right on the edge of a 100-foot cliff. Mendocino County has some beautiful beaches at the base of incredibly sheer rock formations. This is just one of dozens of spots I could have chosen to paint but I was particularly interested in the light coming through the hole in the rock and the clear bluish-green water.
I was originally going to paint from this view on the North side of the Golden Gate Bridge. The day was perfectly clear but quite windy from so high up.
The next day I ended up on the South side of the bridge. Here you can see how foggy it was when I began the painting. The scene was muted in color. As I said before, an hour into the painting everything changed; the fog cleared and the sun shone. You can see the difference in weather from comparing this photo to the final painting in the previous post.
September 15, 2007
Baker Beach 8×6 in.
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Exiting the Golden Gate Bridge on the South side I made a few turns and just happened upon this beach. When I started painting this scene it was mostly overcast but an hour into it the sun came out and the whole scene changed. So instead of making things up I just started over. Can’t control Mother Nature.
September 14, 2007
Greenwood State Beach 7×6 in.
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I started painting this one at about 4pm when the sun was moving toward the West but not yet setting. There was a great contrast happening on the beach at this time. The orange sunlight hit the rocks and created cool blues in the shadow areas. Also, I was amazed at just how bluish-violet the wet sand appeared as the waves receded back into the ocean away from the beach.
September 13, 2007
Battery Point Lighthouse
Lighthouse Kitty (I guess this is why no dogs are allowed)
Here is my Keiser-inspired cigar box. In certain situations this is more convenient than my usual set up.
This is a great little hostel where we stayed 6 miles North of Klamath.
September 12, 2007
Patrick’s Point 5×8 in.
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Loved this spot. I’ll have photos in another post.
September 11, 2007
Battery Point 8×5 in.
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First stop Crescent City, CA. I just love the soft grays at this time of year in Northern California. They make even the redwood trees on the mountains in this painting appear to be a flat purple shape.
