Morning Coffee

The temperature finally dropped out of the triple digits. Out to paint in the early morning and the coffee customers are there on G Street in Davis. Nice cool morning and no people to bother. This was quick and the coffee people were there almost to the end. I am still working on my trees. This was done with sap green and raw sienna, gradually increasing the sap green and then adding ultramarine blue to the mix.

A Vineyard in Davis

Not very far on the outskirts of Davis, there is a small vineyard. We were invited to paint there last Wednesday. I was surprised when I found it on a dirt road heading south in Davis. This is the town that contains the wonderful wine school at UCDavis, so why the surprise. I guess because I've lived here for 45 years and was never been aware. There are vineyards all over the outlying towns so the soil must be right. The vines are just starting to leaf. The grounds were so clean with no weeds showing. In painting the scene, I tried several quick thumbnail sketches but could not find a focal point. Rather than worry about composition I decided just to try mixing greens to define the leafage. Great day was had by all.

Quiet Alleyway in Davis

The older section of my town, Davis, has alleyways that are very different charm than the streets of Davis. I am not sure what they have for a mailing address but the residences are typically small without a garage. There are power lines and they have trash pickup. It must be a tight squeeze for the trucks, especially if a car is parked. As you can see in my painting of this alleyway, it has deep ruts which collect big puddles of water, now that the rains are here. In the early morning the sun lights up one side and creates wonderful shadows. When I wander around town looking for something to paint, I am drawn to the alleys.

Color on Route 113

The best fall color for the past week has been the trees lining our highway. I kept wondering how to get to paint it. It was cold on Wednesday, but sunny. While running in place to keep warm, I sketched the scene from atop the bridge. I and then went home and painted it.

Arboretum Morning

It is still warm enough in the morning to paint on location. This is a plein air painting of the local arboretum on the University campus. I keep waiting for fall colors to show, but they have been slow developing. The challenge in doing this scene is to mix a lot of greens. New gamboge and thalo blue, French ultramarine and new gamboge, raw sienna and ultramarine, burnt sienna and ultramarine mixtures give a nice range of greens. The shadows were quickly changing but it was a wonderful feeling, painting. It is an idyllic place with busy runners and gardeners all around. Everything is well kept. Seems like the ideal place to give a workshop.

Monday Afternoon at the Depot

We have such glorious weather for painting.  I was at my favorite site, the Davis Depot, for some plein air painting.  It was quieter than in the morning.  Major train traffic occurs mornings and late afternoon from my experience.  The southwestern architecture of this building appeals to me and by catching it at different times, the shadow and shading change.  This creates a new scene for my painting of a familiar landmark in Davis California.  I can make the composition just the way I want it by moving something or leaving it out.  Everyone still knows where the place is from the painting.

Tuesday Morning at the Station

The Davis Train Depot is rather iconic for the city.  It is my favorite place to paint when home.  There are many people coming and going, especially students whose bicycles are left all over the place.  This is a first, painting from this vantage point.  It is down the tracks and behind the iron gated fence that prevents wandering onto the track.  I didn't expect any visitors but one women from Pittsburgh was very interested and came to chat.  Fortunately, someone yelled to her as they climbed aboard the Chicago bound train.  They had to hold the train as she had to circle back for her luggage and then get out to the train.
I finished in about 2hr which is the parking limit.  Davis has very efficient parking attendants who hand out lots of tickets.  

Summer Dining in Davis, CA

This eatery across from my favorite train station in Davis, CA was busy at 11AM on a Friday.  I was set up across the street and quickly sketched and painted for about 2 hours.  It is a colorful place and the cooking smells were wonderfully seductive. This certainly hurried me along so I could finish up and eat some lunch.

Along Putah Creek

It was hot, the way I like it.  After being out for an hour the bugs did show up but I still like it better than wind and cold.  Putah Creek runs down from the dam in Winters through Davis along the arboretum on the campus.  This scene was out on a patch before reaching Davis.  It is frequented by joggers but otherwise, very quiet.  The hills have already dried out but there is shade from these trees along the gravel pathway. 
Shadows are so important to painting.  After all, it is the light that we are after and shade with cast shadow show off this light.  It gives contour to the hill and is directional for the viewer. 

Back Roads of Davis, CA

We are enjoying the clear crisp weather and went as a group to the outer roads at the University of California at Davis. The trees have lost their green and this dense growth is really all sticks and stems. Sort of challenging to paint. I did a little boning-out of the nearest trees but decreased the values as the road moved into the distance. I felt that the little shed and birds gave the composition some informal balance.
It is good for your painting to be plunked down at a location that you would not choose and try to put together a composition.

Bit of Tuscany in California

My neighborhood has all sorts of houses and most are on very small lots. As you can see from the actual photo, this is a big house and someone planted a small vineyard right next to it. I jog by quite often and am brought back to Italy by the architecture and pines. I did take some license with the arrangement but had fun painting it from across the gulley that runs along side. It started out as a cold morning but warmed up and was a great day for painting.

Sunny but Windy on the Backroads

It was a cold, windy morning last Wednesday but I was out painting first thing. Found some trees to get behind. I think that wind is the single most difficult element to deal with when painting plein air.
The structure is the Plainfield Station. It was once a fire station and now serves up burgers and soups...pretty good. There are some rousing parties there and the bikers love the place. It is on the backroads of Davis.

WELCOME

I have not blogged for the past month. Lots of travels, some computer glitches and other priorities. I have been painting and they have accumulated so I will post some this month. I'm on my Davis patch on the west coast. There is quite the contrast with life on Cape Cod. The tempo here is much more upbeat with students buzzing around and keeping the downtown busy. It feels energizing compared with the slow shuffle of the Cape. Both places work for me but I do like to be warm, so this is right for me now.