Yet another painting in my China series. I used a very limited palette of only 4 colors for this one, trying to create atmosphere and depth in the background.
Nelligan Road is a gorgeous road outside the town of Glen Ellen, Sonoma County. Roy and I lived at the end of the 4-mile-long road, and I gawked at this scene daily.
I was just playing around with this study from a found photo of someone else's painting -- whose I have no idea, but was drawn to the purple sky at first. Sky can be any color imaginable -- in fact, the sky's the limit!
Another in my China series, this painting no longer exists, except for the rock formations in the foreground. I worked on this a few months ago and was not happy with it but vowed to rework it. I thought I would post it just for the record.
This painting started as an abstract, but of course I couldn't leave well enough alone, and before I knew it, I was channeling Wolf Kahn. This time I had the sense to leave well enough alone. Update, 1/7/2018: Extensive additional information on Wolf Kahn and his work can also be found atwww.artsy.net.
This is a plein air painting I did the other day from the roadside just outside the town of Bolinas, looking across the lagoon to the wilderness beyond. It is a spot I will return to again because it is a scene of such staggering beauty.
A plein air sketch that I started tweaking in the studio, then stopped because it all started to go pear-shaped. I couldn't remember how I mixed the colors that day by the pond, and once you start in with a slightly different palette, there's no end to the changes that ensue. I liked some things about this effort sufficiently to want to preserve them. So, I chalk this one up to a successful learning experience. Onward!
This is an attempt at a seascape. I battled with it mightily and perhaps should have stopped after the first session, as my paints had dried and I had to remix an approximation of the palette, which changed everything, of course. Another challenge was presented by the yellow ochre ground on the canvas I had chosen. I loved the yellow ground peeking through as the painting emerged, especially in the mid ground on the right. This is not an accurate image of the painting, colorwise, and I may not be done with this one. I need a break from it, though, and to come back with fresh eyes.
This is a plein air sketch I did last weekend at Marcia Burtt's property in Southern California. She is a fantastic artist, a gracious host, and a fountain of knowledge, which she shares generously. I had a great time with her.
This is a quick little palette knife sketch of the view from my studio in Penngrove in the early morning. I'll be doing a larger version of this scene at some point this summer.
This is a palette knife painting of a scene somewhere in Devon, I vaguely recall, that whooshed by me on the train to Plymouth to see friends in Cornwall last year.