Warming up

Days are getting longer and the weather is getting warmer around here. Summer is knocking at the door. I painted in the Berkeley Hills on Friday afternoon in front of a film crew from work for an instructional video to tempt people away from their keyboards. This scene must be familiar to anyone who's gone through a body of my work, as I've painted here many times over the last 17 years. In addition, I've dragged probably a hundred colleagues up here to paint with me. Though the shapes are familiar, I always enjoy trying to get the color and light of that specific period. In the afternoon, the sun drops lower and lower, unifying all bg colors and knocking out details, as the glare and haze of the light intensifies. I know the light is always changing, and after 17 years, I've changed as well, so the challenges and pleasures of this sort of scene are renewed. Its always a good workout. Things I contemplate messing with in the studio are the yellow bald spot on the ridge in the upper left, and the edges of the tree silhouettes on top. 

Painted on Saturday down in Canyon, a second growth Redwood and Bay Laurel forest in a ravine, with a trickling creek running through it. I've ridden bikes through there for years, and enjoy coming here to paint, especially when it gets warm out. The temperature in the forest is usually 10 -15° cooler than it is in town. I am intrigued by these types of scenes, and am still trying to get a better handle on controlling them. I tried to stick to a basic pattern of of light and dark, but there's some ambiguous transition areas, and perhaps both tree trunks are too parallel. Overcoming the 'facts' of what lies in front of me in nature is an ongoing challenge. What to leave out, what to modify, avoiding too much detail, figuring out how to 'move the eye', all the while the light is sliding on and off the very objects one is trying to paint. The studio can be an 'ER' of sorts to examine and correct these concerns. This one will need it. 

Sunday mid-morning, back in Canyon, contemplating Redwoods, and their accompanying debris field.

The light glides across twigs, branches, trunks, and leaves at an alarming rate that I'm resigned to. I used my pencil sketch as a map to where the light and shadow patterns were in the foreground, because they were gone in about 20 minutes, sometimes partially returning to taunt me into changing my patterns. We can't keep up. I think there's some amazing things down here to paint, and I'm just trying to decode it right now. Not even sure of the light level yet, as it could be a lot darker, but I get fascinated by the 'shadows within shadows' as I find those patterns to be of interest. Actually, those patterns are shadow masses that are interrupted by twigs and branches, breaking them into a series of mosaic-like shapes. I think of them as shadows trapped in a web of twigs. The trees are a rich, dark, violet red, but a blue green ambient light bathes them from above and around, and sometimes a warm bounce off the ground creates an almost incandescent effect that reminds of me of light in the Grand Canyon. A warm bounce light hitting a warm colored object in shadow is a treat for the eyes. Are any of these ideas clearly expressed in my painting? Merely hinted at. More research is needed!

CAC Paintout in Sonoma, Upcoming show info, plus mini horses

I attended a California Art Club event a few weekends ago up in Sonoma. We all converged on 'Old Lakeville Rd. #3', a dogleg section of old road off the Lakeville highway, which slopes west towards the Petaluma River. This section of the road encompasses grapevines, cattle, sheep, and miniature horses, which may be the Llama and/or Chinchilla of their time. Whatever they are, they are cute. I drove up early with Paul Kratter, and we drove the length of the road, looking for where we might begin our day. Following that 'revealing' excursion, we picked a hilly section, lined by eucalyptus, which also had a creek running under the road, that had been trampled  by cattle. The shadow, crossing over grass and water, the edges of the grass, and the modulation of color in the water, added up to something I felt worth spending time on, so  off to work I went. As I painted, more and more artists, and a few local residents, came driving slowly by. The locals to wave, or warn us not to get run over, and the artists to say 'howdy'. In short order, some of my other Sierra pals, Kim Lordier, and Clark Mitchell cruised by. Richard Lindenberg, and Christin Coy, whom I painted with in Sequoia National Park, were out and about, as were many other familiar faces. Part of the fun of an event like that is running into so many folks you know, on a rather remote rural road, and meeting new ones as well. It was a gorgeous day for being outside in the spring. Green... but with atmosphere, plenty of shade, eucalyptus, to take refuge in the reds and violets, plus miniature horses. You couldn't go wrong, unless of course you were downwind from too many cattle up the hill. It is funny how idyllic views in nature may actually 'stink' in real life. Similar to that are scenes painted from the side of a freeway, that look utterly peaceful, but whose true context is quite noisy and somewhat dangerous. This was a peaceful spot, though quite overrun by artists, who probably outnumbered the local population of that stretch of road.

                            

I wandered up the road from my easel to pick a second spot, and found a eucalyptus view a little ways away. I liked the figurative strength of the tree, the contrasting values and colors beyond it, as well as how reflected light bounced onto the forms of the branches. That one came together fairly quick. After a lunch break at a taco truck on the other side of town, we drove back and went after some afternoon atmospheric views. Though I thoroughly enjoyed painting after lunch, as well as bickering with my colleagues, my results weren't so enjoyable, so all I'm posting are the two morning pieces. Both these  pieces are in the show that Paul and I are having at Walt Wines in Sonoma. The show is up now, and the reception will be on the  21st of April, from 2-5. You can view more of the work from the show here. Hope to see some of you at the reception.

Along the Napa River

I spent Sunday exploring a bit of the Napa River that runs south of the Carneros highway for several miles before emptying into San Pablo Bay. I have been driving past this area for several decades, and have never bothered to stop and explore it on my own. I followed the west side of the river all the way to a railroad drawbridge, stopping periodically to pull over and run up to the levee and look around. There's a wide variety of houses clustered along the levee, from leaning, weathered shacks, to something more contemporary, most bristling with No Parking, and Keep Out signs, along with moldering boats and pickup trucks peering out of the weeds. To get to this view, I pulled over at a vacant lot, stepped over a chain, and was heading to the levee, when I was suddenly intercepted by a concerned neighbor/caretaker. I introduced myself as a landscape painter looking for a good view. We then walked up to  the levee, to take a look. He seemed rather wary of my intent, so I told him what interested me about the view,  he eventually realized I was harmless, and went on his way with a handshake. I spent the rest of the afternoon working on these 2 pieces, as a variety of boats motored up and down the river, creating that smooth patch of water in the center. Gulls

shrieked and chased each other off of pilings. Planes periodically took off from an airport a few miles away. It was a peaceful afternoon, and a good spot to work. I will probably work on these pieces a bit more in the studio, specifically the upper one could use some work in the tree masses.

Joint Sonoma Show in April

 I've been having painting adventures with Paul Kratter for almost 10 years. Many is the time at Sonoma Plein Air where we've occupied the opposite side of a display wall in the plaza on a Saturday to show our work, after spending a week of painting all day, meeting up for dinner, hanging out in a guest house, listening to good music, and talking about art.  Since 2005, we've been on packtrips to the Sierra every summer, spending time painting in some exotic alpine locale. Disregarding the scenery, its basically Sonoma at 10,000'. Years ago, we held a joint exhibit at the Orinda Library, and this April, we'll be having a small 2 man show at  the Walt Wines tasting room in Sonoma, just off the plaza.

 We each have our own visual predilections... I tease Paul about his penchant for barns and certain species of trees, and he gives me equal grief for painting ditches and random shrubbery. Regardless, we manage to get along, push each other to do better.... and periodically to step outside our own comfort zone. Periodically. I've been trying to get up to Sonoma on the weekends to build up some inventory for this show. Paul and I even managed to paint together a few weeks ago. Not surprisingly, in the same spot I could find a ditch, and he could find a barn. Here's a few recent paintings with notes.

Early morning in the Viansa winery parking lot, looking southwest. The light in February is so low, there are great shadowed masses almost all day long. Paul and I were driving towards town when we both started noticing interesting opportunities to paint... 

Later that day on Bonneau Road, reverting to one of my 'fascinations'... The obligatory ditch is below the frame, as the fence, foliage, and the side of the house on the right were what caught my eye. 

Painted Sunday (2/24).Thats not a barn on the left... just a wall of some sort. Mid afternoon, looking west on Old Lakeville Road. The Petaluma River is that blue streak running through the Eucalyptus.

Mid-morning, a few weeks ago, pulled off the highway on the way into town. An idyllic view, but cars were whizzing by right behind me.  The grass went from yellow to green, to blue green, as the eye moved towards the horizon. 2 Pheasants were fighting with each other in a hedge off to my left.

Something about this made me give it a shot. We'll see... More to come!

Sierra Summer Workshop 2013 is 'live'

I just got an email from the camp administrator that the snfc website is updated, and accepting signups. Again, it looks like the class is already full, but I've been told no one is on the wait list yet, so give it a shot, as some spots open up every year.

2013 workshop schedule

I am currently scheduled to give two workshops this year. The first one will be at  Pt. Reyes on May 17-19, and the website is here. In looking at the website, it says my class appears to be already full, but they have a wait list. I  apologize for not posting anything earlier. The website listed the class in early December, however  I've been in hibernation mode for a few weeks with regard to my personal work. It has been my experience that for a variety of reasons, a few people usually have to drop by the time the date arrives, so I encourage anyone to put their name on the list if they're interested. I hope to continue teaching in this venue, so don't worry, others will be forthcoming.

My second workshop of the year will be held at the Sierra Nevada Field Campus July 14-19th. I just checked the website and they haven't updated the class listings to 2013, but it will probably happen in the next week or so. If I do find out when, I promise to post it.

Below are a few demos from a mini-class I taught at work for a small group of story artists for a few days in November.

The above 2 images were painted from the deck of what's called 'Brooklyn', the new office building on our campus. In the top one, you can see the giant Luxo light on the plaza in front of the main building, now officially designated as 'The Steve Jobs Building', with the Oakland hills  exhibiting a modest atmospheric color shift in the bg. The palm tree shot is looking north towards Berkeley.

                                           

This was painted at the corner of 45th and Hollis probably around 3. The light level at that time of the year is so low angled and warm. When I teach at work, I usually take folks out here to paint, as it is convenient, and there are a lot of building surfaces with tree shadows cast on them, which is a good problem to explore shadow and light color and value relationships. I had already done that demo, so I just looked down the block, and tried this view.

This was done for a video shoot, as part of a program at work. I've been painting at this spot for over 15 years, and have dragged countless folks from work up here to paint morning and evening versions of the same scene to learn for themselves the dynamic range of natural light. This was a morning view, done last October. I met up with the video crew before sunrise, set up all our gear and just went at it. I thought it would be more intimidating, but I've painted this view so many times, and the video crew folks put me at ease with their energy and good humor. I was all keyed up from coffee, and  mistakenly started on the bumpy side of the Canson paper and had to flip it over and begin again.  It was fun to start knocking in all the shadowed areas while waiting for the light to come across the bay and start illuminating the ridge. The big challenge was to decide where to lay in the light and leave it alone, avoiding the temptation to chase it down the hillside. In retrospect, I think what needs fixing is the light colored tree in the lower fg. It doesn't sit in the mass of the shadow correctly, and knocks it out of balance. That difference did exist, but not in the way I painted it with respect to the light.....OR the darker trees. The dynamic range of light in nature is generally much greater than any contrast range we can achieve with pigment. One's eyes can mislead us regarding small value differences, and this image is a good example of what that mis-perception looks like. Here's a picture of the setup near the end of the shoot:

The image I painted runs roughly from the center of my figure towards the right, where the sunlight stops. You can see how that light colored tree groups with the rest of them to the right of the camera tripod. I made too big a deal out of it. Still plenty to learn!

Pt. Reyes Workshop

I taught a 2 day workshop for 14 participants near Limantour Beach a few weekends ago, hosted by the Point Reyes National Seashore Association. The bulk of the class participants stayed at the Clem Miller Center, just down the road from the youth hostel, while a few stayed outside of the park, and commuted in every morning. I was prepared for a foggy overcast weekend, but was surprised to find plenty of sunshine on both days. Here's a few pictures with notes about how the weekend went.

I drove up around noon on Friday to do a little more scouting out at Pierce Pt. Ranch, as I felt we might paint up there on Sunday if there seemed to be a shortage of things to paint where we were situated. It certainly turned out to NOT be the case. I did two studies up there for future reference, one under the gaze of 2 Tule Elks seemingly crouched in the foliage a few hundred yards away. I drove back through Inverness and out towards Limantour. The image above was the underside of a windswept tree on the property of the Clem Miller center. This was around 4:30 on an overcast afternoon. One of the assistants showed up from a run while I was painting, unlocked the dining center and classroom, and we looked things over. I put up some examples of my work and made sure the projector was working, while Marishka put out a cheese plate, and I opened up some wine. Folks from the class started arriving around 5, pulling out snacks and we had a nice evening, meeting new people, and revisiting some who had taken other workshops with me.

I went out early on Saturday and scouted around the beach a bit. It was clear and sunny. There's a variety of elements and views to paint, but I picked this view of bishop pines as my first demo to give the class the sense that the 'unremarkable' sort of views can have as many interesting challenges as the iconic (and more difficult) ones from the same viewpoint.

Here I am painting my second demo of the morning from the same spot as above, but looking towards the spit and the estuary. This is a tougher view primarily for the shallow diagonals of the water in the distance. I also felt that I let the sky dictate my value range too much in the background. I should have been looking more at the tree in the foreground earlier! (don't do what I do, do what I say!) 

Back in camp for lunch and lectures, I did a few more demos in the afternoon. This is the second one, looking into a wooded hillside above the road.

Late on Saturday, some of the class went back to the beach, so I went down there with a few others a bit later. There were some crazy undulating clouds drifting over, with holes between them. I had left my easel and main box of colors in camp, as I was intending to do walk arounds, but we couldn't immediately find the others, so sat in the parking lot and went to work, chasing the light up the hill. Intense warm light slamming into a hill of dead grass can turn green objects practically into orange. Against those clouds, it was over-the-top color, but fun to try and get it in paint, as the shadow relentlessly rose upwards, squeezing orange to pink... Other folks from class appeared almost magically, some on the road, pulled over to paint, some walking down the hill, all as if drawn by the strange clouds and colors. An amazing sunset to witness. We had a potluck that evening that was an absolute feast. Artists know how to cook and eat well!

Sunday morning was foggy, which gave us a change of palette and values to explore. Here's another view towards the estuary with one pine, and a lot of grasses coming up to the foreground. One interesting thing I noticed is that this kind of light can be reproduced in a sort of 1:1 correspondence with pigment. It is not so intense as to exceed the value range of the medium of paint or pastel. In bright light we are compressing value immensely to express that brightness, but it is different on a day like this. Maybe that it is an obvious comment to many, but it was a new discovery for me, as I haven't painted in this type of light very much. 

Here I am doing that demo, and you can see the value range on the ground is close. Ok, the sky is blown out in the photo, I admit. My umbrella is up, because a mist of drizzly stuff was landing on my paper..

We painted until noon, as I made my rounds, seeking out participants on sand dunes, the main trail, and one individual way out on the edge of the marsh, whom I spotted through a pair of binoculars. We returned to camp for lunch, a final crit, and then to clean up and say our goodbyes.

I really enjoyed the group, and the location is full of things to paint. I feel we barely scratched the surface. As a result, I'll be teaching another 2 day workshop out there in the spring. Stay tuned. Thanks to Arden Johnson for allowing me to use her photos, the 2 assistants, Marishka and Janet, and my gratitude to everyone for bringing so much talent, energy (and great food) to the workshop.