Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

8x10 original oil painting
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The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is located on the ocean with views of Monterey Bay.

A couple of years ago I painted plein air at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk with a friend, Kathy Ellis. It was a beautiful sunny fall day, and all of the rides were closed.  We were the only two people around, except for a few staff members.  It was a challenging place to paint with all of the bright colors and architectural structures.

I've wanted to paint the Boardwalk again.  My painting shows a busy day at the park with the entrance to the world famous Giant Dipper roller coaster in the background.

Sailing on the Bay

Sailing on the Bay

8x10 original oil painting

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Race organizers recently announced that the 34th America's Cup race will be held in San Francisco in 2013.  The race will feature multi-hulled, swift catamarans in a shorter race format.  Sailing events will begin in 2012 and the finals will be held in late 2013.

Pier 27 along a stretch of the bay waterfront will be the hub of the America's Cup activity.

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison's BMW Oracle Racing team won the previous America's Cup in 2010 on behalf of San Francisco's Golden Gate Yacht Club, and got to choose the location, timing and types of boats for the next race.

So in the spirit of sailing, I've painted a small sailboat against the sparkling blue background of the bay.

California Hills

California Hills

8x10 original oil painting
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I find painting pure landscape paintings similar to painting abstract paintings.  The lost and found edges are very important to define shapes that suggest a tree, a cloud or a path.  I took Randy Sexton's plein air workshop this summer and he talked about lost and found edges and manipulating your brush to create a variety of edges. While I was working on the painting above, I kept concentrating on the way I was handling the brush.

Eucalyptus 4, Woodside

Eucalyptus 4, Woodside

8x10 original oil painting

There are more than 700 species of Eucalyptus, but only 15 species occur outside of Australia. In the 1850s, Eucalyptus trees were introduced to California by Australians during the California Gold Rush. It was hoped that they would provide a renewable source of timber for construction and railroad ties. The wood was found to be unsuitable, so instead Eucalyptus trees were used as wind breaks in many rural areas.

My painting shows a Eucalyptus grove off of Canada Road.  I was attracted to the white bark on the tree contrasting with the dark trees in the background.

Eucalyptus 3, Woodside

Eucalyptus 3, Woodside

8x10 original oil painting

The leaves on the trees are changing to fall colors.  Yesterday we were watching the first storm of the season strip away the bark from the Eucalyptus trees in our front yard to reveal intense yellows, browns and green colored trunks.

Stanford Hills 2

Stanford Hills 2

8x10 original oil painting

The landscape surrounding Stanford is rolling hills and open space with ever changing colors.  As we're approaching winter, the golden hills are beginning to turn green. 

On my palette, I have seven basic colors of paint, plus white.  As I was creating this painting I was amazed at the subtle variations created from these eight colors of paint.

Pacific Heights, San Francisco

Pacific Heights, San Francisco

8x10 original oil painting

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Pacific Heights is located in one of the most scenic settings in Northern California with spectacular views of the San Francisco Bay, Golden Gate Bridge and the Presidio. It's an affluent neighborhood characterized by painted Victorians and mansions that were largely built after the 1906 earthquake.

I captured this view on one of those perfect afternoons when the Golden Gate was free of fog and the Marin headlands seemed so close across a glistening bay. I'm sure it was days like this that made Pacific Heights attractive to the builders of these beautiful houses.