Melting into Night

Melting into Night - oil on gessoed panel - 12 x 12"

Here was a wonderful moody sunset. The thing I really like about it is the reflections of the trees in the water. They shimmer and look like they are melting.

I've read that if you want to sell your paintings, you should tell the story of each painting and how you came to paint it, because people love stories. Well, I really hope you will put your own story on my paintings. Does this remind you of anything? Can you smell the air? Hear the night insects starting their songs? How do you feel when you look at it? Do you sense a presence here? Is there a memory that you've almost forgotten...

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Break of Dawn

Break of Dawn - oil on museum quality board - 6 x 6"

Some things just ask to be painted. This is my second painting of this location. The other one was also at dawn, and I was a little further away. Here it is:

New Day - oil on museum quality board - 6 x 6"

This is a 10-minute walk from where I live. San Francisco Bay is on the other side of the little bridge. But I like to think both paintings have a timeless quality and could be anywhere.That way, we can relate them to our own life. It's about the mood, the stillness, the beginning of day... 

I hope you are able get out and watch the dawn. It's a great way to start the day!

If you would like to leave a comment, click here. I appreciate all comments! To buy either painting, or both, (be still my heart!) click here. New Day is framed in a black floater frame, Break of Dawn is unframed. Shipping is free. Please forward this to your friends or share on Facebook.

Touching the Sky

Morning towards Oakland - oil on panel - 5" x 7"

Only from the heart

Can you touch the sky. 

 

            --Rumi

 

 

Click here to buy this painting. It is $75 unframed and shipped for free. To see my other work, on my website, click here.

Meeker Slough

Tidal Marsh at Dawn - 9" x 12" - oil on linen panel

The sun has not yet risen, so the whole sky is one big luminescent dome. In the distant hills, the city of Oakland, CA, is just waking up. The air is full of the smell of fresh baked bread? Yes, this is near Grace Baking, where breads for grocery stores and restaurants are being coming out of the oven, and being loaded onto trucks. I love the smell, though at a scene like this, I always expect the smell of seaweed.

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Good Morning!

Good Morning!  oil on canvas panel - 6" x 6"

This was a really over the top sunrise. Yes, the colors really were that bright! This painting was scratched in the recent earthquake, when all my paintings on drying shelves fell to the floor. I painted over part of the sky to repair it. Now, you can't tell that anything happened. Whew!

Do you know I have started a Facebook Page for my art? You don't have have a Facebook account to see it. You can see it here, and if you like it please use those "like" and "share" buttons!

As usual, you can see more of my art on my website. And if you would like to buy this painting, it is $75, and shipped for free, click here!

Day's End

...Day's End...

6" x 8" - oil on panel

This is a park near where I live. There are lots of gulls and shorebirds here. The strip of blue behind the trees is San Francisco Bay. The mood of stillness and glow of the sky are what made me want to paint this.

 If you would like to buy this painting, click here. It is $95.00 and shipped for free in the US and Canada. To see my other paintings on my website, click here.

Pink Sunrise

...Pink Sunrise...

6" x 8" - oil on linen panel

Sunrise over the salt marshes... You can see the lights of a city across the bay. Everyone is just waking up. A few are out walking their dogs.

I haven't done many paintings that are predominately dark in value, and even in this one, I lightened the ground a bit, but I like the mood quite a lot! I will be painting more dark works for sure!

If you like this painting, it can be yours for $95.00. Shipped for free! Click here to buy. Payment is through Paypal of credit card. You may see more of my work at my website. Or click here to email me.

Coastal Pine at Dusk

...Coastal Pine at Dusk...

6" x 6" - oil on museum quality panel

Okay, this is just a tree. So, why did I want to paint it? Well, the sky behind it gives a feeling that the tree is singing, or is joyful. See the vibrations. See how it has its branches lifted up... And, it's just beautiful! 

You may view my other artwork at my website

This painting is available, unframed, for only $75.00 by clicking here  Shipping is free to US and Canada.

Orange Sunrise

...Orange Sunrise...

6" x 6" - oil on museum quality panel

When I first moved to Northern California, I would go out at dawn to see the sunrise, and usually it would just be gray, with maybe just a sliver of pink. But now, the colors are so brilliant, I have to paint it! It inspires me.

This is a scene from along the San Francisco Bay Trail. People were out jogging, walking their dogs, and smiling, as they watched this beautiful sunrise.

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Slurpy Paint and Five Brushes

Returning--oil painting in progress

Here is an unfinished painting. I am posting it because I had so much fun painting the sky! Most books and articles on painting don't talk about the kinesthetic aspects of painting, but it is the fun part! And the surface appearance is a huge part of the total energy of the artwork. (Yes, they do emit an energy... )

As you can see, there was some painting done before I got to the sky, but I'll save that for a future post.

Now, for the sky! I pre-mixed all the colors from the dark blue-gray to the bright orange, and added enough Liquin to give the paint a slurpy consistency. Then, using soft, rounded, flat brushes (sable filberts) with a different brush for each color, I started with the darkest color using a light touch. These clouds swoosh across the sky, so I used swooshing motions with the brush.

Above is a close-up. I felt like a conductor leading a sympthony, using a whole handful of brushes and letting the strokes swoosh like the motion of the wind--not doing too much blending, because it would muddy the paint. But keeping it light and smooth, so the glow underneath would show through. Just enjoying the feeling of each stroke as the brush glided across the surface. Yeah, slurpy!


Now, back to painting... That water is going to be difficult!

Flowing to the Sea

...Point Isabel...

 oil on canvas panel - 12 x 16"

Ah, Point Isabel, part of the East Bay Park System... This is also a really nice dog park! It's fun to come here and just watch the dogs! You can see San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge from here, but I didn't put it in. There is already a lot going on in this painting! 

This is a layered painting that took several days to complete. It's hard to tell from the computer screen, but there are areas of transparent as well as opaque paint. I love playing transparent and opaque against each other!

New Day

...New Day...

6" x 6" - oil on canvas panel

If you looked closely at my little layered paintings, this one had a pink sky above the band of yellow light. That layer had dried. I added the clouds on top of that, and wiped back to expose the pink. See how airy the clouds look? I love sunrises!

Point Isabel Sunset

...Pt. Isabel Sunset...

 oil on canvas on panel - 6" x 6"

This was a beautiful evening at the dog park at Point Isabel. There were a lot of people there with their dogs (which I didn't include in the painting). I had taken an online class from Deborah Paris on Painting Skies, which was really good! So, I want to do some more sky paintings. This one is quite small because I am trying out the technique and composition to see if I want to do a larger one. It has a fantastic glow, due to the final glaze of Gamblin transparent orange and brown pink.

Blue Ridge Mountains II

...Blue Ridge Mountains II...
oil on canvas on board - 6" x 8"

Another misty sunset in the mountains. I used Grumbacher Copal Medium in this and really didn't like the effect this time. (It was fine when I was painting the red tulip, go figure.) But this time, every brushstroke seemed to lift the paint underneath.

Click here to buy $75 + shipping, unframed.

Blue Ridge Mountains - SOLD

...Blue Ridge Mountains...
oil on canvas - 6" x 8"

I can't believe how hard this was to paint. I had to wipe it off and start over three times! And I'm still not totally happy with it. I just keep telling myself, "It's only a daily painting, it's only a daily painting, it's only... "

Maybe I'm being too perfectionistic, but the very slight changes in the value and temperature of the colors, plus all the soft blending made a huge difference in the aerial perspective. The so-called "rules" of aerial perspective, (that colors get lighter and bluer and less intense as seen from a greater distance), seem to have been written on a sunny day with a blue sky. Here, at dusk, there was so much red in the light, there was a lot of purple in the distance. Actually, the color of those background mountains, which appears blue-violet here, had so much red it, it looked pink on the palette.

The sun seemed to be floating on a layer of purple mist. I put a little thalo turquoise in the sun, so it would vibrate against the reds.

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"Crow"

6" x 8" - oil on canvas

I love skies, especially at dawn and dusk. The crow was an excuse to do a sky painting, which I suppose is an insult to crows everywhere. The light changes so much at dusk that the part of the sky which appears to be blue is actually a yellow-gray. It just appears blue because it is cooler than the warm clouds.

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