Plein Air Painting in Martinez

Last week went off to Martinez, CA to paint with a plein air group. It was a good experience that included new friends, a cookout, and a very friendly critique of everyone's work. There were plenty of good works from this group that meets weekly.
Martinez is a major train hub and I doubt that many get a full night of sleep with all of the whistles that sound from arriving and departing trains. I loved it.
My painting was done on the edge of the marsh with the bright sky emerging. There was no egret, but I needed a focal point and some balance to the weight of objects on the left side.

Davis Joints

Got out early Saturday morning to paint and got a close-up viewpoint of two Davis eateries, side-by-side. The shadows were the attraction for me along with the warm colors of both buildings. The lost edges and cool notes gave me great satisfaction with the painting. There were plenty of early risers from the nearby hotel who were in town for a football game.

It's all about laundry

I have shown this one before but found myself painting another laundry scene yesterday. Must be my helping out at home that has focused me on domestic activities. One group washes in the river and the other hangs the laundry out to dry. Do you know that the ordinance in my town had to be changed to allow hanging laundry out to dry! We are all going green.

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.