Finished one - started another!

Taking the photo of "Royal Palm" was a royal pain.  I am not sure I got it right, but I do like the painting composition and execution.  Now it's on to the canyons through the Santa Monica Mountains.  This is Las Vergenis Canyon coming from Malibu.  Can't wait to place in that neat rd sports car that just happened to come by when I was painting. Got a photo [heard it coming!].  Should be done by the end of the weekend I think.   Here's another one for the March 24 Allied Artists show event at the King Gillette Ranch.   [That's on the next canyon east of this location.]   

Worked to finish "Royal Palm - The Adamson House" today.

The Adamson House is one of the royal places on the Malibu coast.  I spotted this composition as I was hunting a place to paint on the property as part of the collection I will sell at the upcoming Allied Artists event at the King Gillette Ranch on Sunday, March 24.  I am standing with my back to the beach, and these very old and beautiful royal palms cast their shadown up the lawn to the home property wall.  I liked coming out of the darkness to the light on the house, and the looming clear sky.   Basic shapes,  Fun to do.

San Diego CA lighthouse..

A neighbor on her birthday trip to San Diego, CA sent me a cell phone shot of this neat and historic lighthouse.  Her text subject line read; "Your next painting"?  I thought it was a great idea!  Here it is a day later. ["Ann's Light"  6x8  Acrylic 1.24.13] 

In progress ....

Sunday, 1.20.2013  I am painting for the upcoming exhibit and sale at The King-Gillette Ranch CA State park in March.  The exhibit is sponsored by The Allied Artists of The Santa Monica Mountains & Seashore [of which I am a new member].  All the paintings shown for sale are required to feature scenes within the Santa Monica Mountain range.  This 9x12 is of one of the crumbling out buildings that are a part of the ranch complex.  Today I will work on the reds, browns and tans of the tree that casts such an amazing shadow pattern on the century old structure.  The grassy area and final work on the chimney wall will finish it off nicely.  I like this one so far.  I also like it because it is a part of CA history, and was designed by one of CA most famous architects at the turn of the last century.  Abandoned in the sunset of a CA winter afternoon.  

5X7 & 6x8 added to the on line sales gallery.

"Waiting for you.." was painted on-location at one of S. CA's most beautiful beaches, on a sunny January morning.  "Stonehaus Jo" is a part of a new series of coffee cup paintings of cups from favorite places my Facebook pals submitted.  "Waiting" is a 6x8.  "Stonehaus" is 5x7.   Both come framed in the classic plein-air style frame as part of the price.   The gallery is at www.BobRaserArt.com  

Looking for a body...

I am off to a figure painting workshop next month with one of the very best, Peggy Kroll-Roberts, at the Knowlton Gallery in Lodi, CA.  That's wine country and I am looking forward to the workshop and painting the local area - if I have time.  This is a painting that I would like to add a figure to - maybe far right facing the surf.  I have made 2 paintings that I will take with me to get Peggy's input on how to best add that figure.  The painting is of rock-top Station #2 at teh Leo Carbrillo Beach just over the Malibu line heading W on the PCH.  [If you go in the winter park on PCH and skip the $12 parking fee]  I started to rough it in  s part of a paint out day this past weekend with the Allied Artists group I recently joined.

What I learned about "painting small".

5x7 is small, and I have this great new small box to use [see later posts below] that's easy to carry, has few supply needs, and is great for doing a painting even over lunch or a cup-a.  After a false start and a few paint-overs, I decided to keep 3 to evaluate what I discovered, and what I learned from pros like Tim Horn.  I asked him for his input.  "Paint small things", was great advice for sure, but hard to follow.  If you paint big things small [see building painting here] paintings get, "precious".  I expanded that advice to read, "paint small things big", and I think i have found a way to get these small "post card" size panels the way I want them.  In the 3 panel photo you can see big stuff [the local Stonehaus wine/coffee tasting room], a blanket cart they keep at Stonehaus for chilly afternoons, and then my favorite, "Stonehaus Joe", a Stonehaus coffee cup, extra hot.  Paint small stuff big, and this one works for me.  Going to try another coffee mug tomorrow at lunch, this time a great green/blue one from the Kiwi cafe in Chester, NS, Canada.  For me, it's all about spotting something fun, and worth painting on a 5x7.  It's a much different "eye" than I use all the time for my other work, but fun.  Learning a new skill is always a pain for me, but I think I have made it through the creative wall.  

Playing with the new 5x7 Pochade Box...

                                      setting the most simple scene..

                                     1 hour later...

I've tried 3 different very small 5x7 panels trying to get the hang of what fits on such a small canvas, and what works the best for me.  Today i tried the simplest of subjects, just a cup of coffee - and wouldn't you know it - I got the one cup without the Stonehaus logo on the cup, so i just added it on my own.  I may now do 5 or 6 small works from the Stonehaus location and put it in a spacial gallery at my on-line gallery site because so many wine and coffee drinkers at the Stonehaus want to know where they can see them.  That gallery address is www.BobRaserArt.com   

What can you learn from mistakes?

We've all had that pep talk from somebody about learning from mistakes.  So what can I learn from this one?  I wanted to try out my new Christmas gift, a 5x7 pochade box that allows you to just sit down anyplace and do a small painting with out unpacking all kinds of stuff - just a few brushes, a cup of water and a few basic colors.  You can paint over lunch, or waiting for someone.  So I went off to the local wine tasting/coffee place & really wanted to paint an interior of the large bow window with sun streaming through.  Lots of red, gold, yellow.  But I got there late and the sun wasn't right, so I went outside & did this birdhouse.  Mistake:  Painting something that did not inspire me at all.  No shadows or real color.  Lesson: There are subjects that make great photos that do not make great painting subjects at all.  Wait for that.