Plein air oils!

Plein air paintings done over the last few days. All are oil on canvas or canvas panel, and most are about 14"x18" (the bottom one is 20"x28"). This is my first week of plein air oils. Watercolor on location now seems easy by comparison. Most of these will be reworked at least a little bit in the studio. Still learning how to handle all that wet paint on the canvas and keep it from turning to mud.

Figure drawing

I finally made it out to one of the figure drawing sessions down in the mission. All drawings are pencil or conte. Poses range from one minute (sketches at the bottom) to twenty minutes (sketches at the top).

Rowdy jay style

Back to drawing birds at the California Academy of Sciences. It's been a while since I've done any drawing with sharp pencils (last time I drew the birds was in November), so I thought I might start with conte. It was messy and kind of like making sculpture. Lots of fun and pretty surprising at the same time.

More plein air

Plein Air in the Headlands

Process

This is a painting from memory of the fog coming in just below the top of Mt. Tam last week. It looked like someone had pulled a large curtain around it. Very strange.

More from China Basin

Process shots

Plein air in Dogpatch

A start

The beginning of a watercolor from an old family photo.

New Painting

Started a new painting, my first with oils in 12 years. It will be hard to want to paint with acrylics again. The landscape is the oyster farm and estuary at Point Reyes, and this will be the first in a series. It's on the small side (for me) at 45"x64". The top image is five sessions of painting. The bottom image is four.

Open Studios!

Mission Open Studios is coming up next weekend. Stop by and see some of my new paintings as well as some good work by my studio mates. Several other studios are also participating. Check the Mission Open Studios website for more information.

Art Explosion Studios

2425 17th St. @ Potrero

Opening reception:

Friday, April 25 7PM-11PM

Open Studios:

Saturday, April 26 11AM-6PM

Sunday, April 27 11AM-6PM

Sketch

More practice with the watercolors and another Marin landscape.

Mt. Tamalpais

More plein air from Mt. Tam.

Golden Gate Park

Plein air watercolor sketches from Golden Gate Park and an ink drawing from another sketch.