Tuesday, September 25, 2012

View of the Bay, San Francisco

View of the Bay, San Francisco
orginal oil painting 10x8
SOLD

I was painting in San Francisco and I wanted a photo of a street scene with Alcatraz and Angel Island in the background. I drove around until I found this spot on Hyde Street and then I waited for the Cable Car to crest the hill, into the sunlight. It actually took quite a while. The cable cars don't run that often. It turns out that people driving in cars don't like it when you're standing in the middle of the street to take photos, but I was happy with the composition.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Kalorama Street, Ventura

Kalorama Street, Ventura
original oil painting, 24x30
SOLD

The opening reception for my show at the Buenaventura Gallery was a lot of fun. We had about 200 people come through the gallery that night.  I want to thank everyone who came by to say hello and show their support. I'm also grateful for all the help from the staff and volunteers. I'm very proud of my new paintings and I think the show looks really nice in the solo room at the Buenaventura Gallery.  

The painting of Kalorama Street is in the show. We use to live in the Sea View condos off of Kalorama Street in Ventura.  I always thought the street was unique and interesting, it has Mexican Fan Palms growing out of the street. At some point the city must have widened the street and paved around the palm trees. There's an ocean view at the end of the street, a mixture of houses, churches and apartments. It has a Southern California feel to it - wide street, lots of palms trees, a fog bank and warm sunlight, colorful plants and a 1960s style apartment building.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Mission and 2nd Street, San Francisco

Mission and 2nd Street, San Francisco
original oil painting, 24x30
SOLD

I took the photo for this painting, after I had been to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art with my friend Alicia.  We were on Mission and New Montgomery Street waiting for a bus, when I pulled out my camera to capture this composition.  I liked the F-line rail car with the Ferry Building in the background.

This painting is 30x24, the largest size oil painting that I've done to date.  I used my t-square to get the vertical building lines parallel in the background.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Underpaintings by Ann

 
A couple of weeks ago my niece Ann was visiting from Wichita.  She likes art and likes to help me in the studio.   I had some drawings from photographs on canvas panels and I asked her to do the underpaintings.  She used a thin wash of Transparent Red Oxide paint and divided the painting into three values, a dark, middle and light tone.  After the underpaintings dried, Ann also helped me lay in the sky on a few paintings.  The above photo shows Ann finishing the sky in a painting of the flower fields in Santa Paula.  Thanks Ann!