Saturday I spent time roaming around Buena Vista Park looking for something to paint, plein air. I found great views on the windy side, but it was too windy to set up. The side with no wind, no luck. So ended up coming back home and taking Gracie to the “Scent Garden”. Turns out the light was perfect, at home all along!
I’m really happy with this one. I keep a good combination of textures (heavy paint and transparent), and I think the feeling of light is just what I wanted to convey.
Just a couple of paintings to post that haven’t made up yet. The first painting below was done last night at the sunset “Quick Draw” event. I painted fellow artist Janan L. Shannon. This work will be part of the silent auction fund raiser.
Artist in the Shade – Oil on Linen – 10×8″ (SOLD)
I loved the light on this scene, later afternoon, my favorite time to paint (after a nap, of course 🙂 I was going for a simple, strong graphic-like design.
We had a good turn out at today’s Verde Artist Guild paint-out, dispite the thick fog. We all managed to find something to paint, and in fact many of us painted a house across the street from the park, at the corner of Buena Vista East and Dolores. A long-time resident walking her dog told us the house belong to a former US ambassador, and that he’d purchased several homes on the same street for his children. Nice guy!
Joining today was (left to right), Richard, Christin Coy, Karen, Julia Seelos, New Person (sorry, can’t recall her name!), Cathy Boyer and David Stonesifer. I managed to paint to small studies below.
In today’s Quickdraw event, we had 90 minutes to complete a painting, while standing on the main street in Telluride (Colorado Ave). Yes, there’s some pressure, but it was actually pretty fun. I’ve done enough of these contests now to know what to expect, so I was pretty relaxed, chatting with people as they walked on by. I had just enough time to finish my painting.
Given the ample shade on the north side of Fir Street, I set up there again (as I did yesterday, when I painted in the opposite direction, towards the bakery). I’d painted the same building yesterday in the late afternoon, so I had fresh knowledge of its architecture, which certainly helps when you only have 90 minutes.
I’m very happy with the result. I brought the painting back to the Opera House for the sale, and it sold about 5 minutes later! There was a First Place prize awarded to Randall Sexton, who–if you don’t know him–is an awesome painter and teacher.
This painting was a good color study…representing the various warm colors here, from yellow to dark red. I wanted to check the values of the work, so created the black and white version above. If your painting reads well in black and white, it almost doesn’t matter what colors you use, the painting will work.
I’m not sure where I’m off to today….I think the peak from the town gondola again. Awesome views up there. Until then!
Another great day in Telluride! I stuck to painting in town again today, there’s really so much here. I also need to start thinking about tomorrow’s “Quick Draw” competition and find a spot. We’ll have 90 minutes to complete a painting for judging and then live auction. This will be the first test of sales here, which I hear are pretty good. The town boasts celebrities like Oprah and Tom Cruise, who was spotted by a friend in the market. PLEASE, PLEASE Tom Cruise buy one of my paintings in this show! Imagine, being able to list him or Oprah as a collectors. Sweet.
Speaking of sweet, both my paintings today are a bit riotous in the color department and done on the same corner, looking in opposite directions. Although I don’t generally enjoy painting architecture, I do like painting man-made stuff because the colors are stronger than I often seen in nature.
Here’s my first, morning effort. The always affable Keith Wicks was just across the street from me, in fact that’s his truck in shadow. Keith is a great humanitarian. He founded the Sonoma Plein Air event, a fund raiser for local art programs. He also co-founded this event, a fund raiser for the local Sheridan Opera House, which itself hosts many non-profit events for the community.
Fir Street, Telluride – Oil on Linen – 12×16 (AVAILABLE)
After a nice rest, I did this afternoon painting. Fourth of July in Telluride is supposed to be quite an event. A great small-town parade, that apparently everyone tries to participate in, including local Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of the coalition forces in the First Gulf War. One year the artists road in the back of a pickup truck, waving their paint brushes.
Fourth of July in Telluride – Oil on Linen – 10×8 (AVAILABLE)
I need to pick one painting for the competition by tomorrow night. I’ll try to post whatever I do in the morning…but, of all the paintings done so far, which is your favorite?
I’m out of the chaos of New York City and in laid-back Telluride, Colorado today. The flight in from Denver was a very small prop plane, and while I don’t feel completely safe in them I did get a great view of the surrounding areas to paint. There’s a lot here: red rock canyons, meadows, steep mountain peaks (with just a bit of snow left) and a colorful downtown. The town is really beautiful.
I had to leave NYC at 4am this morning, so was pretty tired by the time I got here. Only one painting done, which is more than I’d planned actually since we weren’t supposed to have our canvases stamped for the show until tomorrow. I’m ready!
There are many colorful alleyways in town, and it’s possible to compose paintings with glimpses of the surrounding terrian. Here’s one I did today. I realized later that I didn’t photograph the final painting, but this is close enough.
Telluride Alley – Oil on Linen – 10×8″ (AVAILABLE)
By the way, as I’ve done during other plein air competitions like this one, I’m going to post the final completing paintings, and ask for your help to pick the best. Apparently, I can only submit one to the competition, whereas all the paintings can be hung in the show July 3/4. Thanks in advance for your help!
Friends of Verde Artist Guild,The Verde Artist Guild will be hosting a paint out July 14 at San Francisco’s Buena Vista Park. This is the city’s oldest park, with 360-degree views of the city, Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay. Bring a bag lunch and share your work, including any critiques you’d like. There is generally plenty of parking available, but carpool if you can (see below).
Would you like to call your own paint-out? There are over 100 local Bay Area plein air artists on our mailing list. If you’d like to invite local plein air artists to p Best, http://www.verdeartistguild.com/ PS. If you’d like to be removed from this list, please email us at Info@VerdeArtistGuild.com |
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This is the second study of views from the area around Buena Vista Park. This is actually from the “Scent Garden” of the Park Hill condos across the street from the park, looking South-East. The distant hill is Corona Heights.
In this painting, I concentrated on contrasting the natural elements in the top third with the man-made structures below.  I’m having fun, figuring out how to play with these geometric shapes to make interesting patterns. I’m not sure the values in the foreground are quite right (probably too light, as they’re in shadow), but I think there’s an interesting juxtaposition of shapes and colors.
