A Few More Balboa Park Paintings

12x16
Marston House
Oil

12x16
Alcazar Garden Archway
Oil

9x12
Off The Beaten Path - Balboa Park
9x12
                                                                



                                                            

Balboa Park Paintings

Hey folks just a reminder......

This Sunday the 21st, Fathers Day, I'll be participating in Art of the Park Garden Show at the Marston House at Balboa Park.  Me and 6 other artists will be showing and selling paintings of Balboa Park from 11am to 4pm.  The event commemorates the centennial of the San Diego Exposition of 1915.  Music and food will be available as well as plenty of art to see. 

More info at http://www.sohosandiego.org/main/expogardenart.htm 

This painting, "Botanical Building" 11x14 - Oil, will be amongst my paintings.  Should be a nice day to be outside, hope to see you there!

A Few Recent Ones

This nice vista is only a few blocks from my home here in Hillcrest.  I titled it "Trail Off Curlew Street" and it's a 9x12 oil painted en plein air.  I love these little pockets vistas that just pop up in San Diego urban neighborhoods.  Sometimes you don't have to venture too far from your front door step to find a nice scene.

This 11x14 is the "Turf Club". located near down town San Diego in Golden Hills.  I was commissioned for this one and the client is more than stoked to have this one hanging on his wall.  It's a studio painting showing the restaurant/bar at dusk.  Loved doing this painting!








Been preparing a group of paintings of Balboa Park in celebration of the of 1915 World Expo.  All are invited to go the Marston House, located in Balboa Park to see not only my works but other local artists as well.  All paintings will be of Balboa Park.  The dates I will be there are June 21st and July 19th, from 11am to 4pm.  Click here to visit the Save Our Heritage Organisation website for more info.  This one is titled "Balboa Park Blues" and is 11x14.  I'll be posting more Balboa Park paintings soon.

More Urban

Wow, I cannot believe the month of January is almost over.  My wife and I returned from Colombia on 1/7 and I immediately dived into work, feels like I haven't had a chance to catch up on my art projects.  For what it's worth, happy belated New Year.  So here's the first post of 2015.  This one is titled "Urban Haze" and is 16x20.  I'm still exploring the bottom of Washington street here in San Diego, an area with endless painting possibilities.  Looking forward to doing more. 

Pacific Highway Glow

"Pacific Highway Glow" is a 12 x 24 painted in oil.  It's one I've been slowly painting for a while, nudging it this way, nudging it that way.  You know how it goes.  It is a scene underneath the Pacific Highway in San Diego at the bottom of Washington street. Behind the wall on left is a skateboard park.  I pass by this area a lot, and this particular time I stopped my car and took some reference pics.  The sun was setting and the concrete was aglow, just blazing orange.  The fact that the somebody's car lights were left on added a bit more interest.  That palm tree was so much fun to paint.  Love this area, a lot to paint there.

Here's a 12x12 that is one of the paintings featured at my current show at Bread & Cie Cafe.  It's of a restaurant in my neighborhood in San Diego.  It is iconic as it has a colorful history.  It opened in 1950 and closed in 1985.  It was once the most popular location in a family chain of pizzerias and was also a hot spot for movie stars, famous athletes and special events.  It recently went up for sale so I thought I'd document it before it goes away forever.  See "Moon Over Pernicano's", along with other paintings before the show ends on November 30th.  Bread & Cie is located at 350 University Avenue in San Diego.  Click here to read my latest newsletter and to see which paintings are still available from this show.

Outdoor Painter is a weekly digital newsletter that features artists, news and tips about plein air painting.  It is part of Plein Air Magazine, the premier magazine for the craft of plein air painting.  Editor/writer Bob Bahr did a little blurb about my use of limited palettes, complete with one of my recent paintings.  Thanks Bob and the folks at Outdoor Painter and Plein Air Magazine.  Click here to see the article.

This painting is of the main street in the neighborhood I live in.  Again, I chose my colors by using the gamut mask method.  I had an awesome time painting this.  I like how it's full of atmosphere.  Someone on Facebook described it as "that moment just before you reach up and pull down the visor in your car".  Thought that was pretty cool.  I'm really learning a lot by choosing my colors via the gamut mask, choices I probably would not have chosen otherwise.  This 8x10 painting is titled "92103" and was painted in oil.

This one was awesome fun!  I chose the gamut (colors) on site which consists of yellow/orange, blue/violet and blue/green.  With my normal warm/cool primary colors palette I probably would have dipped into each color.  The limited gamut palette kept me in check and I was still able to achieve the mood I was shooting for (a partly cloudy colorful San Diego fall morning).  8x10 - Oil.

ARTISTS RECEPTION
There will be a artist reception on Friday, November 7th from 5 to 7pm for my next showing at Bread & Cie Cafe.  I know it's kind of an odd day and hour but I hope you can drop by. Bread and Cie will provide food and there will be alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages provided. The cafe is located in Hillcrest at 350 University Avenue.  The show will hang on November 5th and will continue thru the first week of December.  There will be 12 paintings total, all  new, including my last few posts on the this blog.  Would be nice to see you so come on out if you are able to!

Continuing the gamut masking method by James Gurney I tried this Donut Nocturne painting.  I used orange, violet and blue for this gamut mask.  Working from a photo I can see how the gamut mask can be a very useful tool.  It really helped to decide on a set color scheme and to not be so literal in trying to get the actual color in the photo.  This oil painting measures 8x10.

This was a fun one to paint here in my neighborhood.  For this one I used yellow ochre, transparent red oxide and ultramarine blue.  I like the sunlight and shadow conveyed in the this one and to me it fells like early morning light in a calm and tranquil alley.  I normally don't use transparent red oxide on warm/cool palette.  I was surprised how strong it is, like burnt sienna on steroids.  A little go a long way.  I'll be going back to this palette for sure.  This one measures 8x10. 

This 8x10 was painted at Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego on the Pt. Loma peninsula.  Amazing how much color you can get with only three colors.  In this case I used ivory black, titanium white and burnt sienna.  It was a great lesson in making the most of a very limited palette, especially in terms of subtlety and tone.  Less is more in this case and I am looking forward to using the palette again.  In the small time I have switched over to try a variety of limited palettes I am very pleased with the results.  The last few paintings definitely have a different feel to them and by default each palette I have used creates a natural harmony.  Looking forward to exploring this more.

Hillcrest Mustang
8x10 - Oil

Here's one I'm pretty excited about.  I started experimenting with the gamut mask method from the teachings of James Gurney.  In this one I made red my dominant color and used greyed out blue and grey out green as the subordinate colors.  This limited palette helped me to keep the painting unified and furthermore helped to set a mood to the painting that I really like.  Though painted on site, the colors I chose were limited (only three) so I couldn't match exactly all the colors before me, I only got as close as I could.  Doing more with less in my opinion.  It was a huge departure from the warm/cool primary palette I normally use.  The car owner was super nice, he plugged the meter and didn't move his car so that I could finish the painting. 

This 8x10 plein air was painted at Balboa Park.  Just up the street is the Laurel Street Bridge that leads into the park.  Trying to inject mood and colors schemes I normally don't think about or use in my recent efforts.  After hanging the Benchmark Brewery show I realized a few things.  When all the paintings were hanging on the wall all the paintings pretty much looked the same in regards to shadow colors, sky colors, saturation of colors, values, etc.  Though the paintings did read nicely from afar and up close, I felt that there really wasn't any variety in terms of color, mood, values, etc.  So I need to work on that and hopefully this painting is the first of many down that road.  So far it's been a positive challenge trying different colors schemes and limited palettes.  Looking forward to posting these efforts.

The Benchmark Brewery paintings are now hung and ready for your viewing pleasure!  You can visit the brewery in person to view the exhibit, or you can click here to see online.

Cheers!

Morning Light Bath
9x12
Oil

On Tuesday the 30th of September I will have around 20 or so paintings hanging at Benchmark Brewery.  It finally happened, my paintings and craft beer has finally come full circle.  I have been a home brewer since 1989 so it was inevitable that some day those two worlds would meet up.  Most of the paintings are nature scenes like the one pictured here.  The venue requested the paintings from my website, plus I painted a few new ones as well (urban, cityscape).  I pulled all the paintings recently and it was interesting to see this grouping together because there is a span of about 6 years between the oldest paintings and the most recent paintings.  Interesting to see how much has changed, like a timeline of artistic growth.  There won't be an opening for this show so if you'd like to see it you can visit the website to view their hours.  And by all means contact me if you'd like to meet up for a brew and chat about art, that would be awesome!  It will be up for a while, probably through the rest of the year.   Sometime in late November they will be hosting several artisans at the brewery to promote their works.  Not sure of the date but I will post that later.  The brewery is located at 6190 Fairmount Ave, San Diego, CA 92120.  And their hours are Monday thru Thursday 3:00 - 8:00 pm,  Friday and Saturday 12:00 - 10:00 pm and Sunday 10:00 - 6:00 pm.  So drop by and enjoy some great beer and see some cool art!

This one is titled "Abierto", 18x24 painted in oil.  It's a liquor store in Baja California, Mexico.  One of many curious roadside attractions you will see if you travel south into Mexico from San Diego.  A lot of cool stuff to paint along this stretch.  This painting will be part of a show I am preparing for which will be at Benchmark Brewing Company in late September.  They have a nice tasting room at the brewery, as well as tasty beers whilst you enjoy the art.  More on the show and the exact date to come.

Awards & Telluride

This years art show at the San Diego County Fair is a strong one.  I was fortunate to have my 2 entries receive awards.  Congrats to all the artists for such a great show!

Been getting ready for the Telluride Plein Air Festival which is June 29th thru July 5th in Colorado.  Will be heading out via road trip on the 25th of June.  Haven't done a plein air event for a few years so I'm looking forward to doing that.  Also looking forward to taking my wife with me to see the beauty (her first time going) of my home state.  Been hitting the "art gym" preparing for the plein air fun that's just around the corner.  It's a strong group of artists and I'm looking forward to making some new acquaintances.  Gonna be awesome!

Freeway Sunset

This is a 12x16 of a freeway at sunset.  Just under the I5 North at the Pacific Highway on ramp at the bottom of Washington Street.  This area has some cool industrial elements like concrete tubes, old trucks, feral cats, etc.  I have painted plein air there a lot.  Recently the city has been cleaning up the area.  Bummer for me.   I was super attracted by the snake-like thrust from the shape of the bridge, and the colors of sunset really made it interesting as well.

My Dear Friend

This incredible lady is Ruth Savig. I have called her incredible since I was 16 years old. She's the first person who really encouraged me to do art, and eventually was my first mentor in scenic painting for the theater back in high school. I remember her bringing me art supplies back then as we simply could not afford them. One of my favorite persons in this world. This depicts her in a pensive moment in her painting duds. Been thinking about her more than usual because her husband passed away a few weeks ago. It was a spiritual experience doing this portrait of her. 8x10 - Oil - Linen