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This is my second collection of paintings from the Pacific Crest Trail. These are the paintings I made from Tuolumne Meadows to Ashland, Oregon.  One more book to get me the rest of the way to the border of Canada!

Here is a flip-through of the first 900 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, making a painting a day and hiking about 20 miles a day.  It has been wonderful seeing the many beautiful ecosystems throughout Southern California and the Sierras!

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I will be teaching a one day plein air painting workshop on Thursday, March 12 from 9am to 1pm.  

What we will do...

Painting outdoors is a process of interpreting the complexity of what we see and experience when we are outdoors: abeautiful scene alive with changing light. I will share my process of working from life and simplifying and designing a composition based on what I see.  I will demo for the first hour and a half, making a painting and talking about what I am observing and doing.  After that, participants will set up and begin their own paintings and I will work one on one with people to help them with their designs and work.  

Who is it for?

Artists of all experience and skill levels are welcome to attend.  I will meet you at the level you are at and help you create a successful painting that day.  I will be demonstrating in gouache, but participants are welcome to paint in oil, acrylic, watercolor or the media of their choice.

Cost?

$100 cash, Venmo or Zelle.  

How to sign up? 

Please email me to sign up with your name and contact information.  I will share with you the details of our location and answer any questions you have.  

What to bring?

Artists will need to bring their own materials and set-ups.  If you don't have an outdoor easel, I have a couple of extras that people can borrow... contact me if you'd like to do this.  I will be doing my demonstration in gouache paint, but people are welcome to use acrylic, watercolor, gouache, pastel or other media.  

Materials:  I like to work small (around 6x8") in gouache on watercolor paper or a heavy printmaking paper.  (I often use a brown colored paper because I like how it looks poking through the painting.) At the minimum, you will want to have the following colors:  Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Yellow, Ultramarine Blue and Titanium white.  I use soft, flat, synthetic hair brushes of various sizes.  You will also need a water container, a plastic palette, a pencil and paper towels. Simple materials and a very straightforward process.  I look forward to painting with you!

Thank you to Fred and Susan Powell for producing this painting demo video for SCAPE (Southern California Artists Painting for the Environment) and to Jerry Martin for letting us use his beautiful space.  This is an introduction to my approach to painting and some of the things I consider when painting outdoors under changing light conditions.  The scene completely changes over the course of an hour.  There are some entertaining and quirky Zoom moments in the beginning, but they only last the first couple minutes.  The completed painting is below... Enjoy!

(click on the bottom right corner for full screen view)

I will be teaching a one day plein air painting workshop on Thursday, February 19 from 9am to 1pm.  

What we will do...

Painting outdoors is a process of interpreting the complexity of what we see and experience when we are outdoors: abeautiful scene alive with changing light. I will share my process of working from life and simplifying and designing a composition based on what I see.  I will demo for the first hour and a half, making a painting and talking about what I am observing and doing.  After that, participants will set up and begin their own paintings and I will work one on one with people to help them with their designs and work.  

Who is it for?

Artists of all experience and skill levels are welcome to attend.  I will meet you at the level you are at and help you create a successful painting that day.  

Cost?

$100 cash, Venmo or Zelle.  

How to sign up? 

Please email me to sign up with your name and contact information.  I will share with you the details of our location and answer any questions you have.  

What to bring?

Artists will need to bring their own materials and set-ups.  If you don't have an outdoor easel, I have a couple of extras that people can borrow... contact me if you'd like to do this.  I will be doing my demonstration in oil paint, but people are welcome to use acrylic, watercolor, gouache, pastel or other media.  I would recommend working between 9x12" and 11x14" for the painting you will make and to have a paper and pencil as well so you can sketch out ideas before you start.  This page has a list of supplies that I like to bring for oil painting. Also bring a snack, water bottle, hat, sunscreen and a willingness to take chances. : )

This time lapse video shows the process of making a large painting over two days in rapidly changing lighting conditions.  I thought it might be interesting for fellow artists or for others who are interested in seeing how the paintings develop over time.  Enjoy!

TVSB Interview with David Starkey

I was honored to be invited as a guest of David Starkey on his show The Created Community. He has been highlighting the work of local musicians, writers and artists for 23 years! He asked great questions and it was a fun experience to share some of the backstory behind my art and process.  Click on the image above or this link to view the video on Vimeo.  

This is a time-lapse video from a couple years ago showing my process of painting outdoors.  You can see how I tone the canvas with a color that felt like the mood and tone of the scene-- in this case an earthy yellow.  I sketch out the general forms trying to create an interesting design, in this case with the large oak to the left and a path weaving into the woods.  I block in big fields of color first and then start to break those larger shapes into smaller ones.  A painting is nothing more than shapes of color put together... the trick is making those shapes read as light and form in terms of value, hue and edges.  In time-lapse my head is bouncing up and down like a bobble head as I'm looking back and forth from my canvas to the scene.  Back in the studio, I reassess my decisions and adjust colors and shapes to pull everything together.  

Really, eventually every artist needs to find the materials that they feel most comfortable working with and that give them the effects they are looking for.  You are welcome to bring what you like if you have alternatives to these pieces of gear or materials.  

Easel-- Your favorite French easel or Pochade box.  Basically whatever allows you to have your palette and medium and brushes before you and your art propped up before you.  

Canvasses-- Any primed panels or canvases will be fine.  I prefer a "portrait" grade which means the weave has very subtle texture, but any type will work and give a different surface.  For the workshop, bring three 6x8" panels and a three others between 9x12" and 14x18", depending upon what size you like to work.  I consider these smaller sizes that allow me to focus more on design outside without the stress of covering a large surface.  This will enable you to slow down and really look at what you are seeing and to finish before your light changes too drastically. 

Palette-- The bigger mixing area, the better.  I use a glass palette that I built.  Disposable paper palettes work great as well. 

Brushes-- This is really up to the artists' preference.  For my graphic style, I use mainly long flat brushes in a couple of sizes from #4-10. Many artists prefer filberts to flats as they can make more of a variety of edges and marks, so those would fine too.  Synthetic or natural hair brushes are fine.  What is important to me is that there is enough "snappy" stiffness in the bristles.  A small #4 round brush is useful for fine details.  

Mediums-- Gamsol in a brush washing container.  Alternatively or in addition you can use pure walnut oil, which is less toxic but not as effective at cleaning brushes.  I also like to sometimes use Gamblin's Galkyd medium (or alternatively M. Graham's Walnut Alkyd Medium.)  These speed up the drying and change flow consistency of the paint.  

Paints-- The brand doesn't matter, but it is good to get Artist's quality rather than Student Quality paints... it is definitely worth the investment.  As far as colors, many times I will just squeeze out the three primaries and white to make a painting.   For my more broad palette, I like to have a warm and cool of each primary and white, so my basic palette is the following:

Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Red, Indian Yellow, Cadmium yellow light, Ultramarine Blue, Cerullean Blue Hue (or Pthalocyanine Green), and Titanium White.    

Rags-- Old cut up t-shirts or blue shop towels are my favorites.  I wear a glove on my brush cleaning hand so it doesn't become covered in paint.  

Other stuff-- A hat, sunscreen, waterbottle and snacks.  

I love backpacking in the Sierras and have explored hundreds of miles of trails.  Every new lake, river bend, wildflower meadow or glacier carved mountain pass I encounter leaves me wanting to paint. t has been a process learning the best tools to bring along to  capture some of these scenes.  The materials need to be lightweight and portable but at the same time give me the flexibility I need to capture the colors and light I am seeing.  Gouache has become my favorite tool for doing this because I can wake the colors up with a little bit of water like watercolors.  It is very versatile because you can use it like transparent watercolor or you can use the paint in an opaque way like oil and layer colors.  I generally use a watercolor sketchbook for these paintings and I love flipping through them later and remembering the experiences for the trail. 

Here is a little look at the process.  These images are from a recent backpacking adventure with my daughter in the Eastern Sierras.  I start off with a rough pencil sketch of the main shapes in the composition.

For my first pass of the painting I use the paint in a transparent way like watercolor.  I like the accidental effects that happen when colors and shapes bleed into each other and create interesting edges and textures.  

I then go over the top of the paintings with dryer, thicker applications of opaque paint that to break up these larger shapes with smaller details.  Mosquitoes, rain, wind and hot sun are just some of the challenges that make the experience authentic.  

The painting process of the image above was punctuated by rain.  At different times during the process sun would burn through and illuminate parts of the landscape.  A plein air painting is not a record of a single moment, but rather a record of an hour of observations and decisions combined into one image.  When I get home, I often use these field studies to make oil paintings like the one below.