May 22, 2007

Carmel Art Festival

I had the opportunity recently to participate in the 14th Annual Carmel Art Festival in Carmel, California. One part of the festival was a 1 and 3/4 day plein air competition. 60 plein air artists had that amount of time to complete 2 plein air pieces, frame the work and turn the works in for a silent auction. I had a really good time as I met some really nice and talented artists. And of course Carmel, Monterey and what I saw of Monterey County was simply stunning. Overload to tell you the truth, so much to paint with so little time. I spent an entire day before the competition scouting the area for potential sites. It was a great time overall and hope to participate again in the years to come. I was fortunate enough to sell my paintings! Here's what I came up with:


12x16
Oil/masonite
Plein Air

This one is titled Coastal House. It was painted on the Monterey peninsula on the first day. The weather was gorgeous, the tourists were friendly and the view was breathtaking. It's such a beautiful coastline.






11x14
Oil/masonite
Plein air

Pacific Grove Lumber Yard was painted the morning of the second day. Pacific Grove is a little town not far from Monterey. The view caught my eye right off the bat. The day before it was sunny but the day I painted it was cloudy and cool. I really liked the sunlit look the day before, but I also enjoy grey day paintings. A few guys behind the white building were taking their break when I started painting. They were puzzled why anyone would want to paint the building.





A few more pics from the area:












































14 comments:

Suzy said...

Two gems for sure. These are wonderful paintings and will certainly enhance any wall they hang on. Great job!

Danny Griego said...

Thank you Suzy. The lumber yard painting is definitely my favorite of the two. I love paintings with paths, they simply draw you in.

les lull said...

If I were to paint a self portrait right now, it would require alot of green to paint the envy. That is one of my favorite spots. I was there on my honeymoon. A couple of great little PAs Danny.

Jennifer McChristian said...

Hi Danny,

Sounds like you had an incredibly satisfying time in Carmel......and congrats on the sale!
Both plein airs are stunning pieces. I especially like the surface textures in 'Pacific Grove Lumberyard'

Danny Griego said...

Thanks Les! I can see how great of a place for a honeymoon this place would be. From the way some couples I saw appeared, they were probably on that same mission. It really is a magical place.

Danny Griego said...

Many thanks, Jennifer. It was a workout, especially with the short amount of time we had. I've been experimenting with gesso on masonite, leaving the texture of the gesso from brushing it on (the brush strokes). I really like the tooth it creates also as I tend to like a rougher surface, even with canvas because I do like to drybrush now and then. Utrecht's alkyd primed linen was my canvas of choice until they recently stopped making it. I really liked the tooth of that canvas and of course it took me a while to find it after going through other canvasses. Oh well, back to finding "the one".

Stefan Nuetzel said...

Sounds like you enjoyed yourself and the paintings turned out so well. I like the second one especially. It is so dymanic with the brushstokes of the tree going up in the air and so does the whole composition.

Danny Griego said...

Thanks Nue. It was one of those rare paintings (for me anyway) that felt good from the very beginning, it just fell together so smoothly. Why can't they all be like that?!

Tom Brown said...

Great work, Danny.

Tom Brown
http://tombrownfineart.blogspot.com

alex schaefer said...

nice piece danny! congrats on your sales, it's one thing to paint pictures and something entirely else to sell them! AHAHAH!

Danny Griego said...

Thanks for looking Tom, nice work as well!

Danny Griego said...

Hey Alex, thanks. Yeah it's great when they sell. I was so into the lumber yard painting I probably would have kept it if it didn't sell. A nice couple from Texas bought it. I guess I'll have to do more (twist my arm).......!

Robin Purcell said...

Great Paintings, I remember them from the festival, I was on the other side of the panels being in the second half of the alphabet., I wish I'd met you! Your work is terrific. Do you remember my paintings? see them at robinpurcellpaints.blogspot.com

Danny Griego said...

Thanks Robin, your site and work is splendid!