West Marin Ranchland

acrylic on MDF panel, 8" x 16"

The golden hills of California are so beautiful to me at this time of year, and the local landscape is looking gorgeous right now.  This was painted from a photo, but I'm hoping to get out there and do some on-site painting soon.

Ridgecrest View on a Sunny Afternoon

oil on cradled panel, 9" x 12"

This plein air piece was painted the other day along Ridgecrest Road in Marin County.  It is a spectacular road that wends its way along a ridge of undulating hills, with incredible views in all directions.  This is quintessential California to me.  It was a warm, sunny, windless day, perfect for painting at this spot, made even more perfect by the companionship of my dear friend and fellow artist Joyce Creswell, who painted alongside me.  There is truly something special about the practice of outdoor painting with friends.  The act of being fully present in the moment while painting with friends infuses the moment with deep meaning.  A memorable day.

Sonoma Hills in Summer

oil on canvas board, 6" x 8"

This little palette knife sketch was done from my deck, which faces the western hills of Sonoma, as the sun was going down and lit up the hills in pink and orange tones.  The colors were changing lickety-split, so this scene reflects my impression of it at the onset of dusk.  

Denman Cottage View

oil on panel, 11" x 14"

This palette knife painting is a somewhat idealized interpretation of the view from my cottage on the Denman property.  I painted it from a photo and not from life because, while my camera was off with the colors of the background hills, I quite liked its skewed version, and yet the values were not far off the real thing.  

Lynch Creek Mustard

oil on panel, 9" x 12"

Painted from a photo taken when the mustard was at its height in April, this scene looks east toward the hills of Sonoma from Lynch Creek Trail in east Petaluma.  It's a scene that I never seem to tire of, always changing yet very peaceful.

California Gold

oil on canvasboard, 6" x 8"

This is an imaginary landscape done with a palette knife, essentially amounting to a color study using a palette that is somewhat unfamiliar to me.  The "new" colors here are phthalo blue, cad red medium, burnt sienna, and yellow ochre, in addition to the familiar colors of ultramarine blue, Indian yellow, and cad yellow light.  I'm just trying to get more familiar with the mixing capabilities of this palette.

Hills of Woodacre

oil on hardboard panel, 12" x 16"

This is a palette knife plein air painting I did on the spur of the moment recently while driving home unexpectedly from work due to a power outage.  The hills in Marin and Sonoma Counties are quite lush and green from all the rain we had this past winter.  

Marshall Petaluma Road in January

oil on canvasboard, 6" x 8"

The sun came out the other day and so I worked on this palette knife plein air sketch until the cold air forced me back into my car.  The grassy hills are intensely green now, after all the recent storms.

Wilson Hill Road Scene II

oil on canvasboard, 6" x 8"

Another plein air study, this one done from the same pullout along Wilson Hill Road in the Chileno Valley area west of Petaluma, but of a slightly different section of the view.  I intend to revisit this spot again soon, to focus on those beautiful black and white Holstein cows that frequently pass through this valley.  

Wilson Hill Road Scene

oil on canvasboard, 6" x 8"

This quickie palette knife plein air study was a race to capture the golden light of dusk before being engulfed in darkness yesterday.  I really wanted to capture the Holstein cows grazing in the foreground but didn't have time.  I hope to return to this spot soon and allow more time to get it done.  Still, it was a good workout.

On Top of the World

acrylic on canvas, 12" x 36"

This was done from a photo I had taken up on Pan Toll Road the other day on Mt. Tamalpais.  I just had to bash out a painting of it.  The fog was just beginning to claim the trees in the distance, and I loved the shadow patterns created by those trees, set against the blond hills in the foreground.  

View from the Cheese Factory, Looking West in Summer

oil on gessoboard, 8" x 10"

This simple scene was sketched looking a bit to the right of the last one I did at the Cheese Factory, along the same ridge of hills, and earlier in the day when the sun was at its height.  I may add some cows later.

Hot Hill

oil on canvas panel, 6" x 8"

This was a simple palette knife study with an offbeat palette of titanium white, permanent yellow, vermillion, English red, alizarin crimson, and ultramarine blue.  Here I'm working with subtle gradations of cool against warm, pushing the boundaries of subtle in color as far as I can without losing the concept of a landscape, which I wanted to retain with this one.

Tibetan Terrain

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

Done from a photo I found online that reminded me of a Tibetan hillside, I loved the color the light made of the distant hills, offset by a shaft of light turning the mustard field a neon green.   

Hill Town

oil on canvas, 6" x 8"

Here's another abstracted landscape from my imagination.  I just wanted to paint some geometric shapes, but of course it evolved into something somewhat recognizable.  I only had about an hour's time to do it, and knew that once I stopped, I would not be able to come back to it and pick up where I left off, because I would have changed by then, just as sure as the cloud patterns drifting by, never to look exactly the same again.  Once the moment has passed with these things, I find it's best to move on.