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.   

Whiskey Hill Rd, Woodside

Whiskey Hill Rd, Woodside

original oil, 6x6

Studio Gallery

 SOLD

Another painting in "Tiny" at Studio Gallery in San Francisco through December 24th.

I ride my bike on Whiskey Hill Road in the mornings.  I was trying to capture the sense of distance and atmosphere in the Santa Cruz mountains with this painting. 

The Penny Ice Creamery, Santa Cruz

The Penny Ice Creamery, Santa Cruz

original oil painting, 12x12

Viewpoints Gallery
SOLD

The Penny Ice Creamery on 41st Avenue in Santa Cruz, makes small batches of delicious ice cream completely from scratch. There's an open kitchen where you can watch the process of making ice cream.  They use flavors that change with the seasons and feature local organic ingredients. 

Next door is Pink Godzilla, a sushi restaurant.  I like the name and weird logo of a graphic pink godzilla on a surfboard.  Together I think the buildings make an interesting painting with the warm and cool color combination. The people add life and movement to the composition.

Monterey Ave, Capitola

Monterey Ave, Capitola

6x6 original oil painting, $150

Studio Gallery

 

 

This small painting shows a street in Capitola called Monterey Ave.  The yellow building on the left is El Toro Mexican Restaurant and in the middle of the painting is a grassy area called "Lawn Way".  I liked the contrast of the buildings against the lawn and landscape in the distance.  I also liked the weird angles of the cross walk that draw you into the composition.

 

This painting is in a show is called "Tiny" and runs through December 24 at Studio Gallery, 1815 Polk Street, San Francisco.  Studio Gallery is celebrating their 10th Anniversary this month.  

Bay View on Hyde St, San Francisco

Bay View on Hyde Street

original oil painting 14x11

Viewpoints Gallery
SOLD

Hyde Street has stunning views of the San Francisco bay, Alcatraz and Angel Island. I took a reference photo while I was plein air painting on Hyde Street in San Francisco, which I turned into a painting in my studio.   

I chose this composition because I liked the two cable cars crossing paths on Hyde Street. Also, the dark cast shadow on the tree on the right contrasts nicely with the rest of the bright, colorful painting.  A cast shadow is a darker shadow, created by another object blocking the light- in this case, a building out of the picture frame on the right.

Sonoma Vineyard

Sonoma Vineyard

original oil painting, 8x10

Viewpoints Gallery
SOLD

The rows of pinot grapevines at Williams Seleym Vineyards in the Russian River Valley were the subject for this painting.  See this painting in the "Art on the Green" show at Viewpoints Gallery in August.

Steamer Lane, Santa Cruz

Steamer Lane, Santa Cruz

original oil painting, 8x10
SOLD

I was painting in Santa Cruz the other day, on West Cliff Drive near the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum and lighthouse.  I chose another view but took a photo of Steamer Lane, a famous surfing spot in Santa Cruz.  Steamer Lane has consistent surf and two distinct beautiful waves, add to that a warm, sunny day and there were plenty of surfers in the water.

I chose this composition because of the cast shadows on the cliffs created by the angle of the sun. It is a long drop down from the cliffs to the ocean where the rocky bottom contrasts with the shallow greenish water.