Wychmere Harbor, Harwich Port

Was home today instead of with my painting group at Sausalito. It seems that the Bay Bridge was closed and I was told to expect big traffic shunting over to the Golden Gate, so I decided not to fight it. Did some sketching of scenes from summertime and went on and painted this imagined Wychmere scene. Had a good feeling about it with the reflections.

Wash Day in Mexico

Back in the early 90's I was in the Acapulco region of Mexico with some painters. I ran across a group of women doing their wash in a shallow river. I stopped, put up my easel and painted them. It was a success and was in a show. Since then, I have been asked by people who saw it whether I still have it. I decided to do it again and had some fun with it. The river is shallow enough to walk all the way across. I remember standing on a garbage dump at the side of the river when painting...much easier when you call up memories and paint inside.

Good Morning, Sausalito

Painted in Sausalito on Wednesday on a beautiful day. Tried doing what Jerry did but my sky is more of a morning one. It was pointed out that each boat should be on a different plane which is logical when you think of it. The mirrored reflections of water are always fun and a way to finish off the foreground. This was painted on a new sheet of 140lb watercolor paper but it must have been scraped against something as the watercolor found these ridges to settle into. This was a half sheet and the same was true of the other half. Unfortunately, you cannot detect this until painting on the surface.

Train Station Therapy

There is a wonderful restored Southern Pacific Station in Davis and it has been a source of resuscitation for my painting. It is so therapeutic to set up and paint it with all of the sounds and people rushing off to near and far places. I had the company of Jeff the homeless guy today who gave a running account of the homeless life and why he chose to stay in Davis. He has lots of info about the trains. I finished this painting in 90min as the parking police continuously monitor the parking with some kind of gun. You can not repark, so you have to leave. Jeff was also off to use the internet. It was a good morning.

Oak Park; a Renassaince

It was cloudy and misting heavily when I left Davis to paint in the Capitol Plein Air Festival. We went to the 'hood'. For 30 years I drove thru Oak Park on my way to work. It was full of drug dealers, crack houses and men gathered on the street looking for work. They were in old couches and chairs along the side walks. A friend owned a property and was afraid to collect overdue rent. Not any longer, the 'hood' has a new look with proud ownership and cared for homes. This painting is the Oak Park Preschool which is getting a face-lift. Workers were buzzing around, checking out my painting and letting me in on what was going to happen to the building. The sun eventually came out and there were some shadows to paint. It actually got quite hot as I finished up.

The Joint on 12th Street

This is the week of the Sacramento Plein Air painting. It runs from Sunday to Friday. Who would have thunk that a typhoon would blow in and wash out painting on Tuesday, Wednesday and part of Thursday. Pretty hard to paint watercolors when it is raining. I painted this Joint on Sunday morning with a bright sun shining. Got lots of attention as I seemed to be on the path of all the homeless who were walking back into town. I did have to wind it up since I had another commitment in the afternoon. It was the shadows that caught my eye.

Plein Air Painting Problems

When it comes to painting on San Francisco Bay, you have to be fast. I was wandering among the Sausalito houseboats looking for something to paint. There was alot of noise and attention given to this crane, so decided to paint it. I took the picture, found my car and gear and returned to sketch. My crane was suddenly on its way out to sea. Pushed by a small outboard motor on a boat, it completely disappeared around the corner. I finished a sketch and painted my version of it on a vertical format.

Sausalito Houseboats

It was wonderful being back with the painters on Sausalito Bay. We were on Napa St. where a huge gathering of houseboats are tied up. Many quite obviously built by amateurs and held together with bailing wire and duct tape. I don't think they are held to any code.
I have not been painting for a couple of weeks. It was a glorious day and my attempt was to paint a closeup of the scene. The figures were put in front of a cool window to be a focal point.