Levee Poppies Redux

Broke the barrier and got out to paint a pastel on the levee. California orange poppies abounding in the sun along with other flowers. Similar view as last week's watercolor, but the pastel is more saturated in color. Not bad.

12x9" pastel on Pastelmat.

Shaken, not stirred

Finally got outside. Sat in the sun at Foster City levee and enjoyed looking at something far away! Poppies were out in force, as were ice plant flowers, but I simply couldn't capture the vibrancy of the poppies in watercolor. Got this little ditty anyway. 7x5" or so watercolor & ink with a touch of gouache on paper.

Waterfall Cliffs at Mussel Rock

Finally broke the dry spell today. Painted indoors from photo taken when we were at Mussel Rock last time. Pastel on Pastelmat, 12x9", B. Charlow. Second pic will show you what I was interpreting. Got a bit too much contrast in there.

Art in the Time of Covid (1)

Locked in here for 2 weeks, working hard, but garnering not enough inspiration to paint. Very frustrating. Finally squeaked out this  little fanciful cherry trees in flower, watercolor & ink, 6.7x9.4" on Hahnemuehle 300 lb paper.

Rained out but won one

Last painting outing got cancelled due to gale force wind conditions and Sunday's upcoming one is likely to be rained out. Makes me very restless!

But I did get back to one of my previous paintings, cropped it down and put it in a vintage frame. Unusual, but striking combination and a successful edit to my eye.

Newark Slough

Painting went well today, but I think I over sprayed with fixative, which darkened it unfortunately.

Blown away!

Cool and gale force winds in HMB near Cameron's painting today. I ended up painting two ink & watercolors in my car.

Lighting up the Lighthouse

Once more painting with the group at Montara Lighthouse.

First one is Sennelier soft pastel on Pastelmat, 9x12". Second one is ink & watercolor on Arches paper, 4x10". Pleased with both of them.

Bedwell that ends well

Nice winter morning with the group at Bedwell Bayfront Park in Menlo Park. Painted two soft pastels on Pastelmat. Not entirely happy with them, but they'll do.

Second time is the charm!

OK, had a productive session. First one is the remake of the ruined pastel; second one is the original that I ruined with the fixative. Quite a difference! Both done from imagination, BTW. You won't find this place on any map.

A Rising Tide, and all that jazz....

Out at Princeton Harbor today for a make up from last Sunday's rained out session. Got two: a pastel and a line & wash. Didn't particularly like the former, but the latter was good as a monochrome.

Quick Save

We were out at Quarry Park in HMB 3 weeks ago. My painting was mudding up and so bad that I just wiped the acrylic off. What a mess! Never do that, but this time it was warranted.

So I started a little line and wash there and finished it with color at home. At least I got something out of the day.

Pulgas Water Temple

Black Friday is better for staying far from the madding crowd! Painting group (plus Lisa and 2 other friends for their first time) braved the chill at Pulgas in Belmont. Very cold, then warmed up, then got seriously cold and drizzled. We had packed to leave by then anyway.

Got two. First was a 7x9" ink & watercolor on paper of the temple. Would have been much better if I had remembered to check proportions of the drawing before launching into paint. So discovered that I had made the temple too squat. Ah well.

So I did a 9x12" pastel on blue/gray Pastelmant of a tree in the forest and that one came out very well.

Blown Away at Mussel Rock

The super high wind conditions that occasioned the PG&E blackout in the Bay Area came whooshing through us at Mussel Rock Park today. Blew half of us into painting in our cars, which were rocking in the gusts!

I got two anyway: Watercolor of the cliffs, pastel of the hillside.

You CAN go home again!

Took a rare trip back to NY and spent 4 days wandering the Catskills in the peak fall foliage season. Always beautiful scenery and very peaceful. Not the Borscht Belt anymore, but still very much the Catskills.

Painted 3, all ink & watercolor on paper. First of woodland pond by memory, second live at Stone Arches Bridge Park, last from photo of farm scene near Callicoon & Roscoe, NY.

Portola Vineyards

Lovely day with the crew painting at one of our favorites, Portola Vineyards. I snagged two: a pastel of the vines and a small watercolor of the edging of the pond.

From little acorns grow....

This mighty oak is a heritage tree here on the Peninsula and is reputed to be 450 years old! Magnificent tree owned by someone I know. She has not been able to get a good photo done of it by a seasoned pro that works for her, so foolishly I volunteered to try painting it.

Well, I did it! 12x9" Ceracolor on birch panel. Having terrible time trying to find a frame for it, though.....

Knifed

Good day painting in weird weather at Mori Point in Pacifica. Warm everywhere, but right at the beach, where the fog made us all frozen. 

This is not a good color rendition of this 9x12" acrylic; I'm having trouble getting my cell camera to get the right color and photoshop only helps a bit. But this gives you an idea anyway. 

Started off trying knife painting, but feel that is like trying to paint with a card table sized object, so abandoned that for the brushes.

Lost my amateur status!

I am blown away! This little watercolor, that I donated to a charity auction in little Pescadero, sold for $300 framed. Who would have thought it? I figured it might go for $50 or less or not at all. Meantime, nearly the same period none of my much better and larger pieces at the Sanchez Art Center show sold. But at least I'm now a "pro", LOL.

Apple of my eye

Good day painting on the coast at Potrero Nuevo Farm. I liked the apple orchard, so tried two: first is soft pastel on wine colored Pastelmat, 12x9"; second is watercolor and ink on paper, 8x5". Some parts I like, but they weren't quite on target for me.