Favorite Ride

Ventura Ride, 5"x7", oil on paper
©2014 Cindy Greene

While looking for a photo reference the other day, I came upon a photo I had taken while riding my bike (confession: sometimes I ride with my compact camera around my neck). I was immediately hit with a wave of emotion: "I have to paint this." This is part of the bike path at the north end of Ventura, California, and is probably my favorite bike ride. The photo had some walkers and a bike rider in an awkward position, so after painting the path, I put my favorite riding companion (my husband) in instead.

When one of our daughters was attending college nearby, we frequently stayed in Ventura near the beach path and have ridden this many times. The views are spectacular!

I'm always experimenting with materials, and have enjoyed painting on gessoed watercolor paper lately. While cleaning the garage recently, I found a large number of high quality full sheets of watercolor paper — I can probably paint on gessoed paper for some time! I like the painting surface, but have to experiment with mounting the painting on a panel.

Summer Clouds

Summer Clouds, 5x7", oil on linen panel,
©2013 Cindy Greene

Tuesdays have been plein air days all summer and today my two painting buddies were not able to go. So I asked my husband if he'd like an outing (he's a photographer), and off we went to one of our favorite local spots, the Bolsa Chica Wetlands. It was a strange morning, weather-wise, very cloudy for late August. But what a beautiful morning it turned out to be. I shared this part of the marsh with a reclusive clapper rail, who had at least one photographer looking for him, as I guess they are fairly rare this time of year.

I'm very pleased with this painting — since the light was changing so rapidly, and the clouds clearing up, I got the color notes for the water in early, as well as the dark marsh areas. The pickleweed was fun, with all the reds and greens.

 

I finished this painting fairly quickly and started another of the incoming tide. You can see a bit of it below, along with Stuart who agreed to pose. Such a fun morning; it left both of us very satisfied. And hungry!

40 Strokes and Counting

Little Corona; Creek Morning, 5"x7", oil on linen panel, auction here

 

"To know what to leave out and what to put in; just where and just how, ah,

THAT is to have been educated in the knowledge of simplicity."

Frank Lloyd Wright

What an amazing place this world of ours is, no? I've been painting this summer with a small group of friends. We chat, paint for several hours, sometimes have lunch after, and generally enjoy beautiful scenery and the joy (and agony) of painting en plein air. Last week's trip to Little Corona Beach was so fun that we went again this week. Lots of things happened.

1. I had an idea to start our morning with a warm-up exercise, painting a simple scene on a small panel in 40 minutes. But the kicker was — only 40 strokes were allowed. Now painting an apple in 20 strokes is manageable, but how do you paint a landscape scene in 40 strokes? I picked a scene and studied it, mixed paint, got out a couple of large brushes and set the timer on my phone for 20 minutes to have a half-time warning. This was hard. I counted out my strokes, making sure to get lots of paint on my brush for each stroke, stopping to mix more paint (duh), squinting to try to capture the value the first time, since I wouldn't likely have a stroke left to correct it later.
   
   At about 25 minutes in, I had used up 35 strokes. I studied the scene again, trying to decide what was most important to capture. At 39 strokes and about 30 minutes, I was basically finished.
   
   And you know what? This is my favorite painting of the day. Definitely a productive exercise, and one I plan to do again.
   
   (When I got home, the painting had smudged in my wet panel box (!) and it took about five strokes to fix it. Disclosure and all that.)
   

   

   40 strokes view
   

2. While I was painting, a young couple came up and asked if they could leave their things by me while they went for a swim. We chatted for a minute, and they told me they were visiting the U.S. from Germany, and had three weeks to tour the Southwest. They were on their way to the Grand Canyon, then to Bryce and Zion National Parks, then would make their way back to California, hopefully seeing Yosemite before they returned home. They were so fun, absolutely charming, and I hope they have a wonderful trip. I handed them my sunscreen to at least keep their shoulders from blistering — I guess the sun isn't quite so bright in Germany and they didn't realize how quickly they would burn.
   
3. One of my painting buddies sold her painting right off her easel to a tourist from Las Vegas. What happens in Corona del Mar stays in Corona del Mar, right? How fun!
   
4. I forgot my camera. Oh well.
   
5. I decided to try painting something really new and not one of the usual beach scenes. Behind me was where the creek came down a canyon and flowed into the ocean. I really liked the view, so painted it. I'm not sure if I'm completely satisfied with this as a painting, but am very glad I did it. Actually, I think I like it a lot.

 

Heading for the Pacific, 8"x10", oil on linen panel

So no seal releases or weddings this week, but a glorious morning at a beautiful place. So thankful.

South Crescent Bay

Rocks at South Crescent Bay, 6x8", oil on linen on board

Last Thursday I spent a wonderful day in Laguna Beach with Kim VanDerHoek and our March plein air class. We were on a spectacular small beach with many painting opportunities. My goal was to choose a simple, strong composition, and not get caught up in the overall view and distractions.

These rocks are looking south, and I eliminated almost all of the bluff. I originally had some sand at the bottom, but it did not really add to the composition and I like it much better without it. As usual, the sun, fog, clouds, tide, shadows and general scene changed every few minutes, and the gorgeous weather and spring break brought in quite a few kids and families. It's very challenging to focus on the painting when there is so much going on (and I'm easily distracted anyway). 

About 10:00 am, a marine mammal rescue center released four rehabilitated seals right in front of us. That was a fun distraction, and it was great to see them dive right into the waves. You really never know what you're going to get when you go outside to paint!

Late morning, after the fog and seals, before many people showed up

30 in 30, #30! — High Noon at the Back Bay

High Noon at the Back Bay, 8"x8", oil on board

#30!! We did it! I started a day late, used a watercolor sketch once, and doubled up a few times, but I completed 30 paintings in 30 days. Kudos to Leslie Saeta, who created this challenge!

This was painted today at my plein air class with Kim VanDerHoek, at the Newport Back Bay. We shared the small area with about 200 elementary school kids who were on a field trip, so it was a bit noisy. But it was a gorgeous sunny day, and painting outside was a good way to spend it.

It's been a crazy month. With all the painting going on, not a lot of other stuff has been happening. We did get the Christmas things put back in the garage (the last box was yesterday) but it took a while. I'm pretty sure the bills have been paid. There have been a lot of nights when at 7:00 pm, I said "How about if we have a salad for dinner?" and my husband has been a trooper.

I have learned so much. I've learned new things I like to paint, and new surfaces, and tried new colors and mixtures. I've painted en plein air, and I've painted on the dining room table in a vacation condo. I like painting in my studio best, and I LOVE my new 27" monitor. I can zoom in and rotate reference photos, and best of all, I can see them clearly.

February will be different, for sure. I'm hoping to paint most every day, but won't finish a painting every day. I want to do some studying, and will be taking an amazing workshop for five days next week. I'll post about it, since I know it will be something I want to remember.

Thank you, everyone who has looked and/or commented, and been so kind. I'm very fortunate to be doing something I love.

30 in 30, #26 — Ruddell's

Ruddell's, 6"x6", oil on panel

Click here to purchase

This one was a challenge, indeed. 

Ruddell's Smokehouse is a tiny place in the tiny town of Cayucos, California. Once you have eaten one of Jim's smoked pork loin tacos, you will be happy to drive 30 miles out of your way to get another one, like we did last November on our way north. I've never had anything else like it, and it is one of my favorite "road food" stops. I have quite a few photos of Ruddell's, but as you can see, it's not the kind of painting I usually do.

So that is the challenge part of today's painting. I wanted to capture the tiny building with the signs and the red trash can, and well, what else can I say? I think what I really want is a smoked pork loin taco. I will tell you that it has apples in it — have you ever had a taco with apples before?