Union and Taylor, San Francisco

Union and Taylor Street, San Francisco

original oil painting, 12x12, SOLD

Studio Gallery

This painting is in a show called "Huge" at Studio Gallery. (Although the painting is only 12"x12".) Looking North on Taylor Street you see the Bay, Alcatraz and Angel Island.

There is a concurrent show titled "Tiny" which includes three of my 6x6 paintings.  Stop by Studio Gallery in San Francisco to see the beautiful new gallery space on Pacific Street. You can chat with owners Jen and Rab who are super nice.

West Cliff View, Santa Cruz

West Cliff View, Santa Cruz

original oil painting, 20x20, $950

Elliott Fouts Gallery

 

A view from West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz. Near the center of the painting are steps down to the beach to an area surfers call Steamer Lane. The Beach Boardwalk is in the distance.

 

I'm very excited to have a new gallery, Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento!  Stop by the beautiful gallery space to see 11 of my paintings.

Boardwalk at Night, Santa Cruz

Boardwalk at Night

original oil painting, SOLD

Elliott Fouts Gallery

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is a seaside amusement park that has been operating since 1907. In my painting you can see the 1924 Giant Dipper wooden roller coaster, the Boardwalk's most popular ride. The unique location spans a wide sandy beach where it’s not unusual to see otters, dolphins, sea lions and even whales.

I was interested in the light and colors at night at the amusement park. As the sun was setting, the neon signs and lights contrasted with the evening shadows. There were hints of purple and yellow in the clouds reflecting the sun setting in the sky.

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge

original oil painting, 10x8 SOLD

Viewpoints Gallery Sept 2-27 

 

On Sunday, as I was hanging my paintings for my show at Viewpoints Gallery, I sold this painting of the Golden Gate Bridge.  Several people came into the gallery, one woman who came through owns several of my paintings and she picked this painting of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Stop by for the Reception on Friday, September 5 from 5-8 at Viewpoints Gallery, 315 State St, Los Altos, CA.

19th Ave at Dusk, San Francisco

19th Ave at Dusk

original oil painting, 20x20 SOLD

Elliott Fouts Gallery

Heading South on 19th Avenue near Ulloa Street at dusk.  This area is just outside of the Golden Gate Park.  The Pacific Ocean and Ocean Beach are down the hill on the right.  The sun was setting on the ocean and causing the warm light on the homes and trees on 19th Avenue. 

Shark Fin Cove, Davenport

Shark Fin Cove, Davenport

original oil painting, 6x6, SOLD

Viewpoints Gallery, Sept 2-27

 

The cliffs along the PCH near Davenport are sheer and dramatic in scale.  The color of the water is a mixture of greens and blues that look clear and pure.  This area is called Shark Fin Cove, because one of the rocks looks like a shark's fin, it's on the right edge of the painting.

 

We visited the Bonny Doon tasting room recently, which has excellent wines and a laid back rustic charm. Across the street are views of the ochre cliffs.

Ellis St, San Francisco

Ellis St, San Francisco

original oil painting, 14x11 $400

Viewpoints Gallery, Sept 2-27

 

A view on Ellis Street near Larkin on a sunny day in San Francisco. The Hotel Essex is the gray building on the right.  It has a cool sign that lights up in neon at night. This is the Tenderloin district, which has been historically kind of rough.  This particular part of the street looks like it's been evolving or gentrifying, or at least it looks pretty good to me.

Santa Cruz Apartments

Santa Cruz Apartments

original oil painting, 12x12, SOLD

 Viewpoints Gallery, Sept 2-27

 

These colorful apartments are off of 41st Avenue in Santa Cruz. They have an ocean view and are steps from the surf spot called the Hook - so they are popular with surfers.  I loved the turquoise color of the apartments against the vibrant colorful flowers.

Peggi Kroll Roberts' workshop

Lesson: Limited Strokes

from Peggi Kroll Roberts' workshop

I just completed a three day workshop with Peggi Kroll Roberts.  My favorite lesson was "limited strokes." Each artist was asked to complete a painting in 20 brushstrokes.  It forced me to keep big areas of shadow and light together, so that each area read as a big block of value.  It also forced me to use a lot of paint on the brush.  For example, to cover the whole background with the same color of paint - in one brushstroke - I had to REALLY load up the paint on my brush.
  

I highly recommend Peggi's workshops.  She's an excellent teacher and extremely knowledgeable about figures and still life painting.

Martin's Beach, Half Moon Bay

Martin's Beach, Half Moon Bay

original oil painting, 11x14, $400
Viewpoints Gallery

 

I've been lucky enough to paint at Martin's Beach in Half Moon Bay recently.  One of the dramatic rock formations looks like a shark's fin.  If you walk around the cliffs on the beach you will see this view at low tide.
 

I tried to get the range of colors in the sand in this painting.  When the sand is wet, it has purple and blue tones and gets darker.  The color of the sand is much lighter and warmer  when it's dry.  Also you can see the tide pool on the right with the dark rocks that trap some of the water which reflects in the sunlight.

Beach Volleyball 4

Beach Volleyball 4

orginal oil painting, 6x6 SOLD

Viewpoints Gallery

Summer is here, everyone was in Santa Cruz last weekend.  Beach Volleyball 4 is part of the Hello Summer show at Viewpoints Gallery in Los Altos.

California and Polk, San Francisco

California and Polk, San Francisco

original oil painting, 11x14

Viewpoints Gallery
SOLD

I started this painting about a year ago for a show in San Francisco.  I was intimidated by the complex composition, so I set it aside.  I picked it up again a couple of weeks ago.  The wide asphalt street, the grooves for the cable cars and magenta building on the right were challenges . . . but I finished and I really like the painting.

It's on display at Viewpoints Gallery in Los Altos.

Surfboards for Sale, Santa Cruz

Surfboards for Sale, Santa Cruz

original oil painting, 11x14

Viewpoints Gallery
SOLD

I was walking along West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz and noticed this little beach cottage with surfboards for sale in front of the house. I liked the color and composition of the surfboards in contrast with the small house.

The painting is in a show at Viewpoints Gallery called "Hello Summer" through the end of May.

Chestnut St, San Francisco

Chestnut St, San Francisco

original oil painting 20x20

Viewpoints Gallery
SOLD

I painted recently in San Francisco on the corner of Hyde and Chestnut Streets.  I have painted at this corner before and decided to paint the view looking down Chestnut Street.  The Bay Bridge is in the distance where it crosses Yerba Buena Island.  Across the bay are the hills of Oakland and Berkeley.

The dark shadows in the foreground draw your attention to the San Francisco Bay and the hills in the background.  I tried a different color palette for the hills, viridian green and ultramarine blue.  It does a nice job of pushing the hills back.

View of Coit Tower

 

 View of Coit Tower

original oil painting, 8x10

Viewpoints Gallery
SOLD

 

The view on Filbert Street in San Francisco has the Bay and Coit Tower in the background.  Coit Tower is a classic icon of San Francisco. Built in 1933 the tower is 210 feet tall, art deco style and located in the Telegraph Hill neighborhood of San Francisco.

Capitola Cliffs

Capitola Cliffs

original oil painting, 6x6

Viewpoints Gallery

SOLD

The warm sunny days this winter and calm ocean waters have made perfect conditions for colorful reflections on the ocean surface in Capitola.

Montgomery St, San Francisco

Montgomery St, San Francisco

original oil painting, 14x11

Viewpoints Gallery
SOLD

The painting above is on Montgomery Street, in the Financial District in San Francisco. The tall buildings block the sun, except in a few places. I liked the contrast of the sun shining on the street with the dark buildings in the shadows.

View from West Cliff, Santa Cruz

View from West Cliff, Santa Cruz 

original oil 6x6

Viewpoints Gallery
SOLD

The cliffs are very dramatic on the westside of Santa Cruz - a good subject for a painting.  As I setup to paint, it was a beautiful clear day and a wave was coming in from the right.  The surfers were just behind me at Steamer Lane. 

There were two main challenges with this painting. The first was to edit out details of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in the distance.  And the second was to emphasize the solid rock shapes in the foreground.  Emphasizing the rocks was easy because of the sharp contrast in values on the cliffs, the light yellow ochre color contrasts against the black shapes.  Simplifying the background is part of composing a scene.  I repeated some of the same shapes and used grayer values to make the background recede.