I was hoping to go further up the coast but the midday high tide and a deeply eroded beach combined with solid swell prevented me from going much further than this little beach hut. Not that I didn’t try, it got pretty dicey around that corner. Timed my way around a few bends between sets […]
Sometimes I find myself painting subjects that are a bit more involved than I’d like, but in order to eventually cover the entire California coast, I just can’t avoid them. Here is one of those. Quite challenging, one day I hope to sort out a better approach to these scenes that look out over rows […]
Have you ever tried to touch your nose with your eyes closed, while sitting in a tiny boat, with two friends fishing? It’s like being rather drunk, but it’s only the dramamine. And the moving sea. Now try to paint the scene. I dare you
Line after lineAnd jewel upon jewelThese beams of lightBearing weightAs well as witnessTo our memoriesLost in the fireOn the night we crossed the bridgeOver the village of tents and mudAnd icePassing carsWith no driversAnd the rising tideForced us to climb over the rocksTo round the headlandWhere lovers lovedAnd dreamers dreamedAnd thieves did their best workStealing […]
To be honest, Santa Cruz stresses me out a bit. Crazy, crazy place… but I like it. That said it was great to get out of the hamster maze for a bit today. A friend treated me to some epic midday views up a private road way up the coast and I followed that up […]
Latest from my Free Range: Santa Cruz painting tour. There’s coves like this all over the California coast, tucked away and protected from the predominant winds creating clean conditions when elsewhere the sea is ragged with wind chatter. This coast is certainly worth protecting and I’m thankful for all who have worked to preserve the […]
Bunches of quail, several deer, otters, and even a fox on the beach. They were all very gracious hosts. Even though I’m sure I smelled pretty bad to them, none of them said so. They live in a beautiful home.
Pretty stoked to paint this one from a rooftop today. Seriously, why paint in a studio when you can climb ladders and crawl through a skylight and set up in a place like this instead? Big thanks to my friend Charles for opening the door… um skylight… to make this one possible.
Fire creptOver the mountainWe saw it from townAfter dinner last night Smoke driftingOut to seaThis morning Everybody hasbeen burned beforeEspecially here On this day thoughThe Rasta ManOnly smiledAnd gave me a beerInstead
Painted this on location on my first day in town on this trip. This was the ridiculously hot day here. Not an ounce of wind either. If I knew then what I know now, I would have jammed up the coast to the points north as the wind has been prone to howl out there, […]
Quick afternoon sketch of the scene here. Gonna get weird with some live art after I finish a burger real quick. Good vibes all around, stoked to be here.
I see them on their good daysAnd it’s hard to believeThe damage that the fairer of the twoSometimes inflictsWhen she lashes outUnseenOn her darker days The gaping holes wrecked into the seawall hereSpeak of forces beyond comprehension I go out here like everyone elseJust to watch on the really big daysBut the seawall always seems […]
After a whirlwind road trip to that stretch of California just below Point Conception yet still well above LA, its good to be home for a bit. But only for a bit. Enjoyed painting our good old “knuckle bones” out here the other day before getting ready for another painting road trip to the points […]
This may or may not have been painted on my way down the coast a few weeks ago, or on my way back home today. I’m not talking. But I am exhausted and my back hurts and my knee is all tweaked and I could use a good long nap.
Last one from a recent Ventura/Santa Barbara trip. Sometimes a painting almost seems to paint itself. This one really didn’t need me much at all. The more I got involved the more I messed it up so at one point I just sortof mentally checked out. I put on some music to drown out the […]
