7″ x 11″, Oil on Paper
I was struck by the play of light and color on the San Diego River in Mission Trails, near the Mission Dam, where fallen branches in the river catches the reeds pushed down the river by the increased water flow from winter rains (normally the river is barely more than a stream.)

I have been working on my big studio triptych of San Diego Skyline as seen from across the bay in Coronado. (I will post some photos of the work in progress in my misc section as soon as I take some photos) I am tremendously excited by this new triptych painting and I’m finding it increasingly difficult to tear myself away from it, as a result my little one sitting plein air paintings have taken a back seat for awhile. Hopefully, I will soon strike a healthy balance between my studio and outdoor work and not all be one or the other.

A one sitting plein air oil on paper – 7″ x 11″ of San Diego’s Tide Pool at Pt. Loma’s Cabrillo National Monument. I was checking out some of San Diego’s Plein Air painters on the Sage Group website and ran into Danny Griego’s website and blog. I was impressed with a number of his cityscapes, landscapes and portraits and sent him an email to let him know I how much I liked his work and wanted see his work sometime. He emailed me back and we eventually arranged to go painting at Pt Loma. A great guy and terrific painter.

The dramatic ocean waves wasn’t a subject I had done before so it felt like a bit of a reach for me. I feel like I would need to really study more at length to figure out the light and color as well as the form of the rocks and surf. This one study was just a first stab at a very difficult subject. The one painter whose painting of rock and surf totally floors me is Winslow Homer, I would love to someday make a painting that speaks more directly to that sensibility.

A one sitting plein air oil on panel – 12″ x 14″ of San Diego’s Balboa Park with a view of the Cabrillo Bridge. I was particularly attracted to this scene by the play of light, rhythms of form and shape, and the dramatic bridge with its reflected light illuminating its underside.

Despite how much I like this little painting’s freshness and tonal resolutions, I am thinking a larger, more ambitious painting might capture even better how spectacular this scene truly is and I am planning on returning very soon to work on a new painting with the same view, probably in the 30″ x 40″ size.