It was a beautiful, sunny day in San Francisco today — 73 degrees! I loaded up a small pochade kit on my bike, and headed down to Golden Gate Park. After riding around quite a bit, I saw this view looking south from Stow Lake. The challenge I set for myself was to both simplify … Read more
The Golden Gate Park Bank has started their concerts again (running through October) every Sunday. As I’m starting to paint the figure again a bit more, I road my bike down to the park to complete some plein air sketch studies. I’m studying with Peggi Kroll-Roberts in September at l’Atelier aux Couleurs in Petaluma this … Read more
Yesterday was an absolutely perfect day to paint. The light could not have been clearer. It was an orange-yellow, which made the most perfect blue-violet shadows (shadow colors are generally complementary to the color of light). This is the type of light/shadow that clearly inspired the French impressionists. In fact, while painting, I was reminded … Read more
It was a beautiful morning yesterday, so I’m glad I got out to Golden Gate Park. I went to North Lake in what’s known as “the chain of lakes“, where 41st Avenue cuts through the park. I found there a couple of what I think were pine trees, yet they were turning brown/red, but had … Read more
I had a great day at Golden Gate Park yesterday, finishing two good studies. This view is the other side of the Golden Gate Pavilion peace pagoda, that I painted last week. There are some color harmonies here that I’m really happy with, and likely to use in a larger painting. In particular the left … Read more
Last Sunday was a beautiful day for walking, and the far western edge of San Francisco (known as “Lands End“) was striking the last hour of the day (“Golden Hour“). A couple of things attracted me to this scene: the light, subject (Monterey Cypress trees, my favorite!) and the shapes made for an interested composition. … Read more
I had the pleasure of painting with Brent Jensen today in Golden Gate Park. Brent and I met years ago at a plein air event, and have tried keeping in touch while he’s moved about the country. Check out his work, pretty great, right? I returned today to a couple icons of the park I’ve … Read more
My last day at San Luis Obispo Plein Air, I had a relaxing morning and just painted for the fun of it. I needed that, because unfortunately, painting for these competitions can be a bit stressful…a bit like painting a commission–only 6-10 in a single week! I continue to have fun with the texture of … Read more
Here’s a plein air sketch of the Chinese Peace Pavilion on “Strawbery Hill“, Stow Lake, Golden Gate Park. The trick with this painting was to paint a monolithic structure. I kept it off-center, with the walkway on the left leading you in. The trees surrounding where also kept point in towards the center of interest, … Read more
Here’s a plein air sketch of Stow Lake (Golden Gate Park, San Francisco) from the Chinese Peace Pavilion.