Plein Air in Malibu, El Matador State Beach

"Cormorants Watching the Sunset" - 8"x10" - Oil on linen

I started this little painting at the end of a relaxing day at El Matador beach in Malibu. The sun had just started to set, cuing my favorite time of the day to paint.

At this time of day, I usually spend between 10-20 minutes roughing in the general tones and colors, and finish it with pictures and memory in the studio. I always love the challenge of painting fast and getting an accurate representation of the light, while it changes constantly. You have to learn to stick with your choices, because within a few minutes things will look very different.

FUN FACT: Minutes before the commencement of this painting, Logan bumped into Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, which is one of his favorite bands. Logan is the second person in his family to meet Flea by random circumstance. So, in addition to the good luck this painting will bring to it's collector, it will also make the lucky individual pretty much famous by association.

More cormorants, hanging out. 

Plein Air Painting in Zion

It seems that I have a little theme going of having a great time on my painting trips, despite ridiculous things happening. Well, to be accurate... it is less "things happening" and more "me causing." This time, it was going to Zion, UT, home of the most beautiful red rocks, and forgetting the color red. I don't even know how. Don't think about it too much.

I enjoyed a hearty chuckle about that one and was about to head out on our first painting hike with 7 kinds of brown and almost-reds, when I discovered I also left an important part of my easel at home. I was not quite as good-humored about that one, let me tell you!

Luckily I had this little cigar box, which I brought as an afterthought, and I was able to use my friend's French easel. Which felt a little ridiculous for the little paintings I was doing, but oh well!

So after that fun little surprise, I proceeded to have 4 amazing days of non-stop hiking and painting with my dear friend, who is good at every single thing in the world and made much better paintings than me, even though she hasn't painted in 5 years or something.

It rained on us every day, which in some ways made the trip even better. It kept us cool and made all the colors deep and beautiful. It also helped us greatly in the body odor department, since there were no showers at the campsite.

Stinkiness aside, I was so happy on the last day when we finally got some sun and shadows to paint! Here are a couple paintings from the trip:

 After the Storm - 6"x6" - oil on linen

Sun on Their Backs - 5"x7" - oil on panel


Zion at dusk - 6"x6" - oil on panel

Deer munching on sunflowers by the campsite.

Trying to paint in the car on a particularly rainy day. Still need some practice with this one! Need shorter brush handles, or shorter arms.

One thing about the wilderness, is that it has bugs. This gigantic bug with gigantic antennae flew onto my easel and reminded me why I like living in the city. (Melissa, who is good at everything as previously mentioned, was not afraid of the bug.)

Big hat: check. I'm really turning into that dorkiest of plein air painters. And it feels good. Kind of.

I leave you with a couple more pictures which I hope will inspire you to make the trip to this incredible national park! It is probably the most beautiful place I've ever been.

Ray Roberts workshop

A few weeks ago I had the wonderful opportunity to assist Ray Roberts during a workshop, through the California Art Club's mentorship program. It was a four-day workshop called, "From Field Sketch to Studio Painting." The first 2 1/2 days were spent painting on location, in Eaton Canyon near Pasadena, and the last day and a half were spent in the studio, where we learned how to utilize those little sketches and make a nicely composed and interesting picture.

I'd never received any instruction on landscape painting before, even from a book, so I was really excited to get acquainted with this area. Although I still have lots to learn, I really got a LOT out of this workshop. By the way, if you aren't familiar with Ray Roberts, here's an example of his beautiful work:

I have to admit, I find it pretty difficult to get excited about landscapes, even though I love the process of plein air painting. But Ray is one of the handful of landscape painters that I just love.

So during the workshop I did five paintings over the 2 1/2 days on location. The first four were "learning experiences", and I'd rather not tarnish my large and impressive reputation by posting them. We didn't have a lot of luck with the sun--it was sort of hazy and cloudy for most of the time, so it was trickier for me to find an interesting subject. Luckily, the sun came out on the last outdoor day and my fifth painting was one I was happy with and interested in turning into a larger painting during our time in the studio:

Plein air sketch, backlit tree in Eaton Canyon

I probably painted for about 45 minutes to maybe an hour. You can see at this point the light was totally different and wasn't lighting up the tree at all anymore. This is what makes plein air painting fun. And frustrating, if you don't work fast. 

Here's how my painting began once we were in the studio--figuring out a light and dark composition that I liked:

It's amazing how much of a difference it made to have that color study on hand to refer to. It's so easy to lose the essence of what you saw in person that made you want to paint something, when you're just going off a photograph alone.

Here's the finished painting!

The Golden Hour -- 14"x18" --oil on canvas

Painting in Provence

I learned a lot on my recent trip to Provence, even before I left the last airport on my three-plane, one-train journey. The first thing I learned, and the most important lesson I think, is that there is at least one European man out there who sprays his crotch with perfume in duty-free shops.

The next very important lesson is that some French people really do say, "Ooh la la!" I also learned the circumstances that will make me cry like a 5-year-old in public. Namely, traveling for 36 hours without sleeping or eating more than a bag of potato chips, having my luggage lost, consequently missing my train and then not understanding French well enough to operate the pay phone. After explaining this to certain information desk ladies, you may hear an exclamation of, "Ooh la la!"

I took 2401 photographs on my 10-day trip. 359 of these were taken of the clouds on my first plane ride, from Los Angeles to Boston. I took a break after the man sitting next to me slit his wrists, driven to insanity by the incessant clicking of my camera shutter. But really, can you blame me?

At any rate, it was all worth the trouble once I got to the beautiful Châteauneuf-de-Gadagne. Our chateau was incredible--almost 2000 years old, with a beautiful view.

Our communal area 

A couple of artists painting in the courtyard.

A gorgeous day painting in Gordes.

One of the first things that struck me about Provence was the light, often creating an intense lavender sky in the evenings. Here is one of the many "Are You Kidding Me?" moments brought to you by the average Provencal sunrise:

Every morning was different, but continually breathtaking. I wanted to paint the morning light, but it wasn't until one of my last days that I finally got up early enough. I had a false alarm the day before when I set the alarm for 6:30, poked my head out the window, said "The light's not right," and went back to sleep. Before I left, I was blessed with the golden light I had been waiting for. I scouted out a good spot and did the drawing on my canvas in advance, and set up my gear the night before so I could capture that light in the short time I would have. I started painting as soon as light broke and really only had about 20-25 minutes before it had changed too much to keep going. I finished the painting when I got home, mostly from memory.

"Sunrise Over Provence" - oil on linen - 8"x10"

I had a bit of a struggle painting while I was there, which I eventually realized was because of the solvent I was using to clean my brushes. (You can't bring your own solvent on the plane). I'm used to cleaning my brushes with a solvent that evaporates in a few minutes, whereas this thinner took DAYS to dry. The result was something like painting with soup, which is not an easy endeavor! I brought a wax medium that was good for thickening the paint and speeding the drying time one day, but the next day I was painting in the full 90 degree sun, and sadly my wax medium melted and succeeded only in making my painting soup into more of a stew. But it was still a lot of fun, and always educational to paint from life.

I will leave you with two more paintings completed on the grounds of our chateau. The second is a portrait of a fellow artist staying with us who was nice enough to pose.

"Afternoon Ruins" - oil on linen - 6"x8"

"The Gentleman" - oil on panel - 8"x10"

Resident cat standing in during a break.

Bonus: here's a painting I did after coming home from the trip. 

Waiting for Juliette - 16"x20" - oil on canvas

"21 Under 31" Feature in Southwest Magazine

I'm proud to say I am being featured in the September 2012 issue of Southwest Art magazine in their annual article on emerging artists, "21 Under 31: Young Artists to Collect." This is the first major publication to feature my artwork, so I was very happy to receive the news. There are lots of impressive young artists joining me in this issue. Many of my favorite artists have been featured in the same article in past years, with Jeremy Lipking at the top of the list (I believe it was the first article that he was published in as well).

You can grab it at the newsstands in a couple of weeks, or read my little interview on their site by clicking here.

Little cloud

Here's a little painting I finished today. I've been inspired lately by NC Wyeth, Maynard Dixon and Edgar Payne. I've been fighting with myself for awhile, trying to decide if I need to stick to painting a certain thing and become known for that. But I have the most fun painting when I'm expanding my horizons and trying different things, so I've decided to just paint whatever I want. For better or for worse, at least I'll be having fun!

Desert Flower, 8"x8", oil on panel

Little update

Thought I should say hi and share some news, so you know I haven't dropped of the face of the earth! I've actually been busier than ever, just not so great at the blog updates. Last weekend I did my first "art walk", in Montrose, CA--one of my favorite places. I've been showing in galleries and other venues for the last year, so I wanted to give the outdoor thing a try as well.

Another first was my public demo, conducted in my tent. It was an interesting way to work, stopping and starting throughout the day, paint drying much faster than I'm used to in the warm breeze, and bugs and dirt sticking to the surface as buses passed. I experimented a little, and I think it has a cool "fresco" kind of look.

"Farmland Study" 9"x12" Oil on panel

In other news, I'm finishing up a ten-week anatomy course that was just what I needed. I took it online at www.scott-eaton.com, and I very highly recommend it.

More soon!