7″ x 11″, Oil on Paper
I was struck by the play of light and color on the San Diego River in Mission Trails, near the Mission Dam, where fallen branches in the river catches the reeds pushed down the river by the increased water flow from winter rains (normally the river is barely more than a stream.)

I have been working on my big studio triptych of San Diego Skyline as seen from across the bay in Coronado. (I will post some photos of the work in progress in my misc section as soon as I take some photos) I am tremendously excited by this new triptych painting and I’m finding it increasingly difficult to tear myself away from it, as a result my little one sitting plein air paintings have taken a back seat for awhile. Hopefully, I will soon strike a healthy balance between my studio and outdoor work and not all be one or the other.

A one sitting plein air oil on paper - 7″ x 11″ of San Diego’s Tide Pool at Pt. Loma’s Cabrillo National Monument. I was checking out some of San Diego’s Plein Air painters on the Sage Group website and ran into Danny Griego’s website and blog. I was impressed with a number of his cityscapes, landscapes and portraits and sent him an email to let him know I how much I liked his work and wanted see his work sometime. He emailed me back and we eventually arranged to go painting at Pt Loma. A great guy and terrific painter.

The dramatic ocean waves wasn’t a subject I had done before so it felt like a bit of a reach for me. I feel like I would need to really study more at length to figure out the light and color as well as the form of the rocks and surf. This one study was just a first stab at a very difficult subject. The one painter whose painting of rock and surf totally floors me is Winslow Homer, I would love to someday make a painting that speaks more directly to that sensibility.

A one sitting plein air oil on panel - 12″ x 14″ of San Diego’s Balboa Park with a view of the Cabrillo Bridge. I was particularly attracted to this scene by the play of light, rhythms of form and shape, and the dramatic bridge with its reflected light illuminating its underside.

Despite how much I like this little painting’s freshness and tonal resolutions, I am thinking a larger, more ambitious painting might capture even better how spectacular this scene truly is and I am planning on returning very soon to work on a new painting with the same view, probably in the 30″ x 40″ size.

Soon, I plan to have a section on this site where I will post works in progress and discuss my process, thoughts and critiques. In the meantime I thought I would show what I am currently working on.
A wonderful scene in an older section of San Diego, near the waterfront. An old seed-mill factory which is now a big indoor market - mainly hispanic vender selling all kinds of stuff, sort of like an out door mexican market. I am looking at the building from the back entrance where there are one of the largest gatherings of San Diego’s homeless population. One guy actually lives only a few yards from where I am painting and I hope to include his place in this painting eventually - if it seems to make sense for the painting. I am painting as the last bit of evening light hits this dramatically salmon-colored building. I am almost half-way to being finished but the painting shows real promise in terms of capturing the light, mood and drama of the place. The painting is oil on canvas and is approx 34″ x 42″ I think.

Here is another little painting I made with the San Diego Meetup Plein Air group. A rare rainstorm came up while painting and we had to leave after only an hour. The struggle to paint the light with the clouds moving so fast with the wind was madness. The scene would completely change literally from one minute to the next. I think that is part of why I like this little study, the rush and intensity to capture the fleeting moment left me little time to tickle stuff and just go for the essential. This is a view of the El Capitan mountain seen from El Cajon.

A view of the Alvarado Water Treatment Plant at Lake Murray. about 8″ by 16″, oil on canvas 9/2008

We live about 2 blocks from Lake Murray, in the San Carlos area of San Diego. I walked to this scene of the mountain from my house to make this little one sitting 8 x10″ painting on panel.

Here is a view from a park in La Mesa. Actually this is the first little painting I made with the San Diego Plein Air group. Oil on Canvas about 10 x 12 I think. My posts to this blog are out of chronological order at the moment. Eventually I hope to sort it all out and date stuff appropriately. After today I will post regularly and show the stuff I am working on - either small plein air work or other smaller works as well as larger works in progress. I also hope to discuss other artists work, comment on shows I am able to see, and generally musing on art related topics. Stay tuned…

Here is a small oil study on paper of a view of Lake Murray. about 8 x 10. I did this with a group of painters I meet online via the San Diego Meet-up - the San Diego Plein Air meet-up a great bunch of plein air landscape painters that I sometimes paint with on Saturday mornings. Hard to keep up with them as I am often too busy painting on other stuff or having to deal with other stuff like work…

I moved to San Diego from Boston back in August of this year. My wife and I moved here to help take care of Father who has some serious heart problems. My brother, Harry had been helping him out but he was deployed to Afghanistan for a year, he is an Infectious Disease MD for the Navy. Anyway, this painting is one of the first paintings I did once I got settled enough to start painting again. Not the greatest photo but the scene shows some possibilities for returning sometime. Not one of my favorites, I gotta admit.