"Peter's Canyon End of the Trail"

"Peter's Canyon End of the Trail"

"End of the trail, Peter's Canyon" - 9x12" oil on canvas

3rd place in the OC Fair Plein Air Division

To have a group of people to paint with and to learn a new style of painting, I joined SoCalPapa, a plein air club here in Orange County.

For those who know my tight, detail painting style, you can imagine how difficult it is for me to paint loosely.  I have been becoming a bit more impressionistic but two paint outs ago, I hated my painting and wanted to start over.  Instead, I took a knife to it.  A pallet knife that is.  This was the outcome.  Not bad for the first time with a knife.

Under the Redwoods - Carbon Canyon

Did you know that Carbon Canyon in Brea has a Redwood forest?  Walking in the park one day, we came across this area.  It was morning and the sun was shining thru the trees.  I thought this was a great opportunity to take photos and to paint this for an art competition coming up in Brea.

"Love My Jars and Paints"

"Love My Jars and Paints" - 8 x 10" oil on canvas

I love jars!  All kinds of shapes and sizes.  I use this honey jar for my paint brushes.  Makes me happy.  So today, being a bit under the weather, I decided to paint happy. Here it is :)

Planes of Fame paint day

"Planes of Fame Air Museum Paint Day"

Had such a great time painting at the Chino Planes of Fame museum.  I picked this Warhawk fighter plane to paint due the the colors and details.  I am not finished with the painting but plan to finish soon.  Here is information about this particular plane thanks to Paul Salverda
This one started life as a Canadian P-40N Kittyhawk IV. The US called all P-40s Warhawks but the British Commonwealth called them either Tomahawks or Kittyhawks depending on the version. This one was used to shoot down a Japanese incendiary balloon off British Columbia in early 1945. The man who started the Planes of Fame museum purchased it in 1960 and restored to flight in 1980.  It has been in many tv shows and movies including Pearl Harbor and Valkyrie. It is painted in the colors of the 325th Fighter Group - the "Checkertails".

"Santiago Oaks - Historic Dam"

I have been working hard on some paintings of the parks here in OC.  This is one of my favorites.  This is the historic dam in Santiago Oaks Park.  A beautiful dam with lots of turtles.  I have painted an artist up on the hill.

"Corona Del Mar" 6" X 12" oil on board

Had lots of fun creating a the painting lesson for my students so I created a new one in my style.  This is a painting I created from a photo I took many years ago.  The day was overcast so I changed it into a beautiful sunset.

"Peter's Canyon before the Drought" 6" x 12" Oil on Panel

Had lots of fun creating a studio impressionistic painting.  My typical style is realism but wanting to touch a bit in the plein air style.