Plein air lanscape paintings from Santa Barbara and beyond…
It’s been a while since I’ve made a painting this big. Lauren and I went hiking a couple weekends ago to search out a vista with enough space to fill a big canvas. When we came around this corner of the McMenemy trail I knew I had my view. The tide was high so the Carpinteria Salt Marsh was full of water you can see in the distance. I think the furthest point is Point Mugu. Personally, I just like to mentally climb the rocks in the foreground.
I hiked the Bill Wallace trail loop above El Cap recently… the views are spectacular if you’ve never been. I could see the whole coastline practically to Ventura. Here is a 6×8″ painting I made along the way. The topmost point reaching out is Devereux, Coal Oil point. #pleinairpainting #kevingleasonart #landscapepainting #billwallacetrail #elcapitanstatebeach #santabarbara
This is the stunning cliff face looking up the coast towards Driftwood’s Beach. Yes, I took out the oil pier– it is only a matter of time before we get over our oil dependence, right? The higher tides pounding on the cliffs are knocking on the door telling us it is time…
These are the subjects of some of my recent paintings. I have been enjoying the challenge of creating a paintings every day for the month of September. If you want to see all of them, they can be found here on Instagram. I’ll share brief stories about each one below.
When I asked the Captain of the Sal-C if his boat was going to be parked for a while so I could paint it, he joked, “I painted it last week!” It is an awesome fishing boat that I learned has been out fishing in the Santa Barbara Channel for 91 years.
My favorite feature of our local mountains is Arlington and Cathedral Peaks, the rocks on which can be interpreted as an immense sleeping dragon.
Part of painting every day is sometimes having to squeeze in a quick session into a busy life. Often I don’t have time to be picky about a scene, but just pull out the easel and take what nature throws at this me. If I’m lucky, the wildlife cooperate.
I committed myself to the challenge of making a painting a day for the month of September. Each day I’ve been heading out and working on a variety of sizes depending upon the amount of time and energy I have left in me. (I’m not posting them all here because I don’t want to overwhelm people’s inboxes, but if you’d like to see them all they are on my Instagram and Facebook Artist pages.).
I’m hoping that the experience will take my technique to a new level. Already I’m seeing things a little differently and addressing canvases with a looser, more cavalier style. I always tell my students that there aren’t many things like painting that you can do your entire life and continue to improve. And just when you think you’ve figured it all out, the next day you are thrown for a loop and feel like a beginner again. Painting is a constant challenge and joy.
This is the view looking out towards Santa Cruz Island from near the San Marcos open space. It is striking on a hot day how much cooler it is beneath an oak tree, with its thick dappled shade and its leaves transpiring. I had fun stylizing the leaves, trying to get the variety of warm and cool greens they contain.
I love the variety of driftwood shelters you stumble upon while walking along the coast. This one that I painted at Ellwood had cords of kelp hanging like strings of lights, party streamers or Tibetan prayer flags blowing in the wind.
It was fun to be back in “class” today (online of course) and see my students again! I hope the school year is starting off well for everyone! This was a recent commission that was given by their kids to a couple that tied the knot at the Santa Barbara Mission 40 years ago. I wish them 40 more years at least!
The sketch for this painting was painted from the trail on the Wilcox Property/ Douglas Preserve as the dog walkers, joggers, birdwatchers, 5-year-old log balancers, stroller passengers, Pelicans, Canadian Geese and one lost college student started their daily parade.
I’ve been going out and painting architecture this past week. I’ve realized there are so many great buildings in this town that I’d like to paint at some point. Here are a couple highlights from this week…
