San Luis Obispo Plein Air 2011

This year I was lucky to be juried again into San Luis Obispo Plein Air. It was my third event of the year after Telluride, Co and Sonoma,Ca. So I was a bit weary. Never mind that some people think nothing of doing 8 to 9 events a year. That's like a full time job, honestly. But fortunately, my hosts this years were out-of-this-world accommodating and gracious. My own room, with studio and workshop, can I just stay forever? Alas. No. But because I've done this event quite a few times, I felt very  comfortable with the area as well. I know where the ATM's and gas stations and tire shops and coffee shops are. Heaven.

"The Long Shadow" 11"x14

As a personal challenge and in order to not stress myself out too much: ALL my work was done in same route.  10 paintings total. From San Luis through  Los Osos Parkway to Montaña de Oro and Morro Bay. No running around like a mad man. The weather was amazing with plenty of clouds and some rain so everything was a study in shifting light and fresh cloud upheaval. 

"Passing clouds" 14"x11"

I never planned anything. Not even the Quick Draw day when you have to chose a spot and paint for a determined amount of time in a determined location. I just let things catch my eye. And so they did in abundance. I could paint here fro a year and never tire.  One weapon I have become accustomed to: I brought with me my Isaak Levitan book for inspiration . I would browse it in the morning and the lyrical mood of his landscapes would get my engines revved up. I think it is obvious that it had some influence. Not may buildings or people, just landscapes as lyrical as I could make them.  I think this bringing a book or clipping book with you is such an essential tool when you are ready to go painting. Just looking at what you admire sets your eyes into extra-preceptive mode. 

"Seagull Sunset" 9"x12"

In any case, I am happy that I am actually pleased with most of my work. Sales were dismal, ah, the economy, the economy. Plus I wonder how many more walls are left without paintings in a smallish area like San Luis. May be we have saturated the whole thing with our doodles? Many unhappy painters. 

"Morro Lagoon. Sunset" 8"x10"

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I am not sure myself if I want to put myself through the ring again but I just enjoy it so much purely from the painting and company aspect of it. I am not sure if these events are going to be around for long supplying America with millions of square feet of painted canvas. All I know is that I will keep doing it as long as it is feasible.

"Morro Harbor" 12"x16"

Quick Draw "Gradma takes control" 12"x9"

California Art Club Paint Out South Pasadena

This painting was done last Saturday during the California Art Club paint-out in South Pasadena. I drove around for a bit and saw this fabulous hydrangeas...and the orange cat in the sun. Of course tabby was long gone by the time I got to paint but i tried committing him to my memory. Almost every neighbor in Filmore St. came out to see the painting except the owner of the house.

Some amazing portraits at the Huntington.

McEntee's symphony greys harmony conveys his mood after loosing his wife. The landscape as portrait.


Clearly a Vermeer inspired interior. A bit contrived but that light...



Formal and elegant . Love the risk of the brim shade.



I can totally see this woman just barge in a room. German painter active in England. Notice the "bottleneck" shoulders so typical of the period portraiture. Probably didn't have money to add hands.



Sargent. Just plain incredible.


Mr Watts. by Raeburn I think. Again, the light. And the uneasy stuffiness of this character who practically launched the industrial revolution.

They speak for themselves. However, I found it strange that anybody would collect portraits of families not their own. I guess Mr. Huntington was trying to import England wholesale. These are not just nice pictures of anonymous subjects as "figures" but people with clear genealogical roots, names and families. Then again, they are beautiful on their own and some of them were latter acquisitions.

The issue of large scale.

So I've finally taken the plunge and did my first large scale painting, 36"x24". That is pretty large for a guy like me used to do little 8"x10" plain air pieces. I am not entirely happy with it and I am anxious to try it again. But a lot of unexpected challenges came simply from the painting's size. This are some lessons I hope I learnt:

1) A previous study can save a lot of time and pain. In fact, it helps if the study is not just a try-out but a real blueprint in scale, color and mood. I did a study but then changes the ratio in the painting with the result that I had to address perspective issues very soon. The dog, for example, had to be repainted closer to the girl in order to avoid making it look like a chihuahua.

This was the study.

2) Drawing and perspective problems will be more acute by the fact that we need to encompass more surface. Pull back often and follow your study with care. I now have a deeper appreciation of the careful underpainting old masters used to build a canvas.

3) Using larger brushes and more paint is not just an obvious choice for larger scale paintings. If we desire to maintain a certain "freshness" of stroke , we should treat the surface with the precision and textural interest of a smaller piece, not hiding mediocre brushwork in the large area or getting lost in parcels of messy work.

4) In small alla prima paintings, color harmony is almost guaranteed since the palette we use to start is the same as the one we finish with. Not so with a large painting, it behooves me to "plan" the palette carefully.

5) A schedule of work is very useful to hammer out a larger piece. Since it is painted in stages, it is essential to maintain a rhythm.

So this is my final piece. I see so much room for improvement I am almost giddy with impatience to put this lessons to work in my next painting.

Chinatown

Exciting and artificial colors abound, shapes are never sedate, everything scintillates with people and movement. We are in Chinatown. Here are two of three studies I made from the same angle in three consecutive weekends(one sold) and under different weather conditions.

The lesson of nature

The main breakthrough while I was in San Luis Obispo was the fact that I understood that the nature outside is not the only important subject in a painting. Most painters understand color and composition but the really good ones understand that the painting is a natural ecosystem in itself. Color and matter and texture help us recreate the natural world outside by acting as themselves, not being forced and overworked. Watercolor needs to flow like watercolor and oil needs to behave like oil. pounding the materials only makes them dull and lifeless.