Bolinas Surfers

 

Here's a painting that I've been working on for 3 weeks now. The two surfers in the painting are me :-) only dude willing to pose! Shot the reference poses in the back yard on an overcast day and then used more reference shots for the boards an atmospheric conditions. I wanted to capture the raw beauty of surfing our coast and the particular beauty of Surfing Bolinas in the winter. I'm challenged by the fog effects along with the capturing the water just right. Also the flesh tones are still giving me trouble. Thought I'd take a break and get a photo of it. Funny how the photo helps you see perspective and proportion errors... very similar to looking at your work in the mirror or upside down.  Back to the easel.......

Hurley!

Here's quick sketch of my sons dog Hurley. I finally broke down and purchase some drawing supplies a couple of weeks ago. I can't believe it's been close to 19 years since I purchased any charcoal, paper, or pencils. Wow.

In the works...

New painting in the works. A view from the parking lot at work.

On the Easel

A new painting in the works

Attention John Singer Sargent Fans

www.jssgallery.org/
I can never get enough of the guys paintings. A master. This site is amazing and has the largest body of Sargent work out there that I've seen so far in my searches. Fantastic resource.

Works in progress

 The Ranch
This was inspired by a visit to a friends property in Mendocino County. We were walking up the road to the vineyards above when I turned and spied this view. I'm using this an Alla Prima exercise and challenging myself to load the brush and place only a single stroke in the right place.

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Overpass
I was eating lunch one day in a carpark are just outside my work in Hercules and I looked up... I just had to take this picture and paint it. I really like the lighting and shadows shapes. This just started out as an exercise but I'm kind of liking where it's starting to head. A little more work to be done on this one.

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The Girl
I really was drawn to the luminous quality of this models skin.I'm very inspired by Jeremy Lipkings work and I'm using this as another exercise in subtle shaping and tonality.I still need to finish the flower. Another inspiring site is www.waterhousegallery.com

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The Hills of East Petaluma

I was driving home from work just before sunset... I seem to be in this same area every night :-). I took the picture through my windshield with my cellphone camera. This painting is a digital painting created with Painter Pro. I might redraw this one and paint it traditionally but I have a bunch of other ideas to finish before that.

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