Urban Painting

Yesterday we gathered at Courthouse Square to paint an urban setting. It was collllllddddd! Got a decent pic, but it feels sort of empty to me. No people (there weren't any at the time I painted to model). All Chroma Atelier Interactive paints in this one.

Some Pix of Me Painting

Chilly in them thar hills!

Meetup painters out in the Purissima Creek Redwood forest preserve on a very cold and damp morning. Not the best, but it does work (and the scans and pix taken by my cellphone have a tendency toward blue and washing out yellow, so color is inaccurate.) Having trouble with greens, as most painters seem to do. A bit of impasto here that you cannot see.

In fact, I didn't notice until cleaning up that my fingertips were numb! 

BTW, both my scanner and my cell phone camera, which is where I start to upload, have a blue tint bias. That means that yellows are washed out and I can only compensate so much in Photoshop for that. What's odd is that I'm always painting outside where the light is naturally bluish most of the time. For all I know about color, it makes it very hard for me to demonstrate online so far the actual value, hue and chroma range of my painting, which is frustrating. Equally so, when I take them indoors, the color shift under artificial light of almost any kind is frustrating.

Portola Vineyards

We had a great time today painting the turning leaves on the vines at Portola Vineyards. Lovely little organic winery with some good wines to boot; wine tasting of course! Great spot to return in Spring, when the leaving begins amidst the flowers.
For some reason neither my scanner nor my Android phone gets the colors quite right, but at least here's the result for today:

The Holy Land and the Middle East

Back from our trip to Israel and Jordan. Had a good time and connected with some realities of the region. Didn't have enough time or inspiration in the right places to paint as much as I had expected, but got in these four anyway:

church at Old Jaffa

impression of Old Jaffa covered alley

Jerusalem stone

Jerusalem street scene from our hotel 

Israel was not what I expected at all. Despite 200,000 years of human habitation and an incredible amount of human history, almost all of what I saw was basically either modern (mid-20th century) or modern mixed in with some older structures, with the exception of the Old City in Jerusalem. Yes, we did visit Caesaria Roman ruined port city and the Crusader castle in Acre (Akko), plus Safed (Tsfat). But even with that said, this is a modern country that felt closer to the US than even to Europe. In fact, cousin Yossi says they are the "51st State", and he may have a point there.

Cannot tell you how impressed I am now with the achievement of the Jewish state. What they have built and pioneered in less than a century is nothing less than a miracle. They have truly made a desert bloom in so many ways. And their industrial base (read more tech than manufacturing) is the envy of every nation that isn't prejudiced against them. They are leaders, and in those ways we would be wise to take a lesson.

Our experience of Israelis in the US has often been "pushy". We didn't experience them that way at all in their home country. Friendly and relaxed, but taking care of business in a way that wasn't obsessive (vs. the US and German style).

For some reason, Israelis don't seem to take to their train system, which is basically along the coast and to Jerusalem, though it's as good as anything in Europe in standard trains. They go for their buses or mini-bus "sherut" system. It all works, and it proved much easier to navigate once there than we were able to find out from the States. So you don't need a car, but the roads are excellent if you want to drive anyway.

Food was off the charts! The few Middle Eastern dishes we had were always a revelation compared to their US imitations (falafel, hummus, etc.) You can get pretty much anything you want from any cuisine there and it's all good and ridiculously ample. Portions were always at least double what we would have expected. Two people can share any dish! 

As to the rougher side of the Middle East, it's amazing how close together and knit together the Arab/Palestinians and Israelis are. We felt safe there, despite the troubles. The Israeli police and IDF presence was really strong due to the random violence while we were there, though. We both felt bad for the average Palestinian (or anyone looking Arab, even if Israeli citizens). They get treated to suspicion and hassle, and you can see how it contributes to their frustration. However, the Israelis are in a tough spot where they cannot let down their guard for long and are portrayed improperly as oppressors, when all they're trying to do is be safe among their neighbors who are definitely desirous of having them leave the area altogether. And you can see how uneven the treatment by the UN and the Arab nations/peoples are with regard to Jewish worship places. I'm not agreeing with right wingers like Netanyahu, of course, but do see how difficult this is.

Tel Aviv was Miami Beach/Miami Dade in the 70s to me. Couldn't have imitated it better if they had tried. Not much to recommend there and Old Jaffa is so small and limited as an attraction.

Jerusalem felt like a beautiful city and peaceful by comparison, but it does shut down a lot for Shabbat.

Safed was a fun little hill town with some real art among the many tourist oriented places. We felt very much at peace there.

Roman Jerash in Jordan was well worth the trip as was spectacular Petra, though the bus rides were interminable to get there. I saw nothing else to recommend Jordan, including ugly Amman.

Not much else to say other than that we were both glad we finally went. Loved spending time with relatives in their true home, and whenever anyone found out we were Jewish, they usually said, "Welcome home."

Bedwell Bayfront Park painting

A little fun in the early Fall sun with the painters today. Bedwell Bayfront Park is little known, but really quite nice. Rolling hills with tree variety and fences, salt ponds and Bay all around it, then the mountains ringing the Bay. Lots to choose from.
The cell pic (like my scans) does not do the color justice, but this is close enough.

Pumpkin Patch

Went back with the painters to "R Road" in Half Moon Bay. Flower fields, but more pumpkin fields now. Not a bad day painting, though the weather turned cold and almost rainy!

Half Moon Bay Painting Again

Nice ending to the "unofficial" summer, Labor Day Weekend. Painted in Half Moon Bay with the Burlingame Plein Air Painters group and we had a blast. Not a bad result.

Deja Vu, another view

I must have painted half a dozen of the Pigeon Point lighthouse. It's just a gorgeous spot and the lighthosue itself is statuesque. Unfortunately, it's fenced off in an ugly way until they can do the quake retrofits. But still worth painting and we had a good time in great weather today.

Presidio

Drop dead beautiful day painting at the SF Presidio. I had forgotten just how gorgeous the views are from all over this former Army post. Fabulous weather and a food truck "off the grid" extravaganza to boot. Can't beat that!

Ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more!

Great time yesterday painting at the Harley Goat Farm in Pescadero. But I never got to paint the goats!

Back in the Saddle Again!

After a long hiatus due to health and weather, I finally got back into the kayak yesterday and had a fun paddle in the outrageously warm weather.

Was testing out 2 pieces of kit: Removu P1 remote viewer and floating pole for my Gopro. Mounted the P1 on my wrist and linked by wifi into the camera, which was mounted our of my reach on my Railblaza with the pole extending it further. Setup worked very well.

So here's to some fun!

Encaustic adventure

Three ancient techniques I have wanted to try, but never got around to: encaustic, fresco and egg tempera. An art store was giving a demo of encaustic, so I signed up, and they actually let us try it out. Too expensive and messy for me, but fun to do for once.

So here's the result - on the left true encaustic (wax and pigment only) done with massive brushes and a blowtorch - on the right second attempt using incision, oil stick on wax. Obviously easier without the blowtorch! Then there's the 2000 year old master works that I was hoping to turn out on the far right...... I dont' think I'll pass that one off as mine. LOL

Picchetti Winery Painting Day

Up in the hills above Cupertino, near where Terri Nuckels and I used to mountain bike 20+ years ago, is an open space district with a working winery inside. Picchetti is historic. Some nice old barns, winery building and a house.
We did have fun, though a small group, today. Painting up here was pleasant, though not really moving.
I am not satisfied with this painting at all. It's passable, but looks amateurish. And the color rendition starting with my cell phone is really way off!
Learned something, or reinforced what I thought from last time: Painting on those cheap canvas boards is not what I like at all. I prefer the stiffness, absorbency and smoothness of gessoed panels, and I think I'm going to stick with those from now on. Paint flows better, drawing with the brush is far finer and less frustrating, and coverage seems superior.
Anyway, here's today's product and a picture from a different viewpoint.

Ahhhh, Carmel!

You can easily forget how beautiful it is around Carmel by the Sea. In fact, we'd never even been to the beach there before, and it's great.

Had a nice overnight at Carmel by the Sea with Nancy. Pleasant weather. Good room and view. Nice dinner. A good, quick, though not cheap, get away, which I've needed.
Nailed a couple of good pix in the bargain. First is a colorful pic of the marine layer hanging over the bay; pen, pencil, pastel and gouache. Second is strictly inks on colored ground of a well known cottage in the shopping district. (If you click on them to see the full picture, what comes up is actually much larger than the originals, so won't quite look the same. Back away from the screen.)
I seem to be hitting my stride.

Pebble Beach

Not the famous golf course, but the little beach on the San Mateo Coast, where I always used to take the kids. Hidden, but gorgeous!
Painting group was out in force. Perfect weather for painting and some really nice views.
This one started with a tonal gray knife underpainting, then brushed over in colors. The scan is off on color, as the sky and sea are actually gray, rather the bluish.
The picture is not exactly the same viewpoint. I was down below on the beach, so the perspective is altered.

Oy!

Wayne Thiebaud has nothing to fear from my art work, that's for sure!

Monterosso framed

Land's End in San Francisco

Chilly day painting under the dismal clouds with the group. We were perched above the Sutro Baths and the Cliff House. They have made a very large lookout building and set of parking lots and revamped the trails and overlooks. Some nice wildflowers in bloom though. Scanner cut off slight bit at bottom and left side, but the composition still works.

Stanford (Cantor) Museum & Ridin Sculpture Garden

Just three of us today for a lazy painting outing to the Cantor Visual Arts Center on Stanford Campus. First one is of the entry statue to the museum, I think it might be Gerald Cantor dressed in toga. This is pen, watercolor, watercolor pencil and gouache. Second one is a Rodin entiteld "prayer" in the garden. That one is all pastel pencil.

Commissioned?

Nancy redid the bathrooms and they came out quite nice. But bare, as the old decor was removed and not reusable due to color and style. She suggested that I paint a picture for over the toilet, where a painting had hung before.

So I sized up the space and picked out a photo of a tiny street square in Monterosso al Mare that I like so much. Right colors sort of, right orientation, and a simply interesting design.

Set about with my acrylics and the photo taped to a wall outside and did up a reasonable facsimile. At least it captured the shapes, colors and composition reasonably well.

Hung it on the wall and everyone seems to like it. Though I know all the faults (and there are some glaring ones), it just works and works well and is intriguing enough to hold interest. Not the actual colors of the bathroom, but a set of complementary tones that works well with the decor. Now just waiting for a frame I ordered to finish it off and hang it properly.

I actually dislike copying anything! This is not normal for me and I can't say that I'm bad at it (much better at that 30 years ago on the rare occasions that I did copy a photo), but it usually does not inspire me. This time seemed to work.

So both Nancy and Lisa kept saying, "I didn't know I could actually commission you to paint something." Not sure that part is going to work out too well for me!

Pacifica Beach

Good day with the painting crew at Pacifica Beach. This is San Pedro Point. Lots of surfers out, great weather and company.
Went to visit Alex & Jamie's new home nearby and it's delightful.
Here's another of our artists' pic of me painting on the beach. Barbara Golden caught me perfectly!

Music Concourse Golden Gate Park

Out painting today after seeing the de Young exhibit with the painting group. We had fun. Didn't want to carry heavy equipment, so only did some ink and pencil sketching instead. Not bad for quickies:

Montara Light House

Painting Cameron's Pub & Johnston House

Just south of Half Moon Bay on Highway 1 is Cameron's English Pub. Across the road is the historic Johnston House, a New England style "saltbox" house that is about 150 years old. Fields of early yellow mustard covered the hillsides.
We had a good time, though I had camera difficulties all day.

Painting the Town of Woodside Red (or Green, as the case may be)

Great day with the painting group in Woodside. Sunny skies, warm temps, lots to paint. I decided to give myself a break from thick paint and do some quick watercolor, ink, pastel type small sketches. Those came out fast and fine. Suspect this may remain my favorite medium and style. Onward and upward...