end of summer roses

birthday card 2018

birthday card 2018

Magenta bird

thistles

Sea Turtle

Birch tree in garden

Apple orchard

yellow onion

yellow onion drawing

Summer Pastels - Struve Slough - Class #4 - 7/29/17

Struve Slough, Watsonville, CA

Summer Pastels - Highlands Park - Class #3 - 7/22/17

Highlands Park creek painting

We spent the day painting at Highlands Park in Ben Lomond. We were lucky to find a spot right by the river where we could all set up and sketch. Ann wanted us to focus on the waterfall and try to convey the sense of movement of the water. It was a hot day and several people and dogs came out to paddle and hangout in the water, but I decided not to add them to the scene. I used a dark tan pastel paper by Canson for this one, in future I will try the Sennelier La Carte brand as well, that Ann recommends.

Detail of the above

Summer Pastels - Neary Lagoon - Class #2 - 7/15/17

Neary Lagoon - 7.15.17 - Pastel Class #2

We painted on-site at Neary's Lagoon in Santa Cruz. It was a very hot day and we were in the full sun for 3.5 hours. This study examines how to paint water and tule marsh areas. I plan to work more on this painting and will add in some ducks or a crane. Click on the image to view a larger version. It's a bit out-of-focus.

Summer Pastels - New Brighton Beach - Class #1 - 7/8/17

New Brighton Beach, Capitola, CA

I'm taking a summer pastel class with artist, Ann Thiermann. We will visit various 'water' sites around Santa Cruz County - ocean, rivers, lagoon scenes. In our first class, we visited New Brighton State Beach. It was a typical beautiful day in Capitola. Above is my in-progress painting of that site. The paper color was a medium grey, and I discovered I need a few more light-valued pastels. It was high-tide and there were a few boats and stand-up paddle boarders in the water. Quite a busy day at the beach.

Summer garden with angel

Summer garden with angel

Red rose

Summer Rose

A beautiful red rose to mark the first day of summer.

Bug

Still Life

An acrylic painting from painting class with Ron Milhoan. From 2003.

Another birthday card - 2017

Drawing after Mantenga

My drawing after Mantenga

I drew this from a print at the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizie in Florence, Italy. I doubt it's possible nowadays, but in the '90s, you could get a pass to sit in a special room in the museum and draw from originals or limited edition prints. This is a drawing I made from looking at a print. I did have a chance to draw from originals of a few lesser-known florentine renaissance artists. It was a great experience.

House Plant (2015) - acrylic on plywood

Barn at Flume Road, 2014