Door to the Past - Plein Air painting in Locke CA.

 On this Saturday morning, I journeyed to the little Delta town of Locke.  It's been a while since I've been to Locke to paint, so it was good to spend a few hours there, see a few artist friends and paint for the morning.   By noon, the day was warming up considerably and I was noodling the painting, so I packed it up.

This is a 9" x 12" panel, which is a comfortable size for plein air work for me.  It's large enough to allow a little freedom, but small enough to handle in a short plein air session.  Even though I painted only for about two hours...perhaps even a little less...the shadows had changed considerably in that time. For most plein air scenes, that's probably as much time as you can spend without risking 'chasing the shadows'.

I love the looseness of this painting.   As I look at it now, I wonder if it couldn't benefit from some careful 'definition' to aide in modeling the structure, but doing that without a careful plan would risk messing up the loose feeling...so I will leave it alone.

This painting captures some of the derelict feeling of Main Street in Locke.  It has a frozen in time feeling that I love so much.

Door to the Past   Locke CA   plein air oil on 9 x 12 canvas panel

To PURCHASE or BID on this original plein air oil painting, click HERE

My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art

A Red Fence In Locke -- Plein Air

Today the Sacramento Plein Air Painters met in Locke.  It was a beautiful morning, but cold in the shade.  After about an hour and one half working on this painting, I had to stand in the sun for 30 minutes to thaw out!  I guess I shouldn't complain too loudly though...in most of the rest of the country, this weather would be very welcome.

 Sometimes I find myself wandering in Locke.  It is so incredibly fascinating and unique that it's difficult to settle on something to paint.  But today I arrived a bit late so I set up fairly quickly.  I made a quick pencil sketch and felt like I had a good feel for what I wanted to paint.  I made a real effort to keep things simple.  I think it worked out well.

A Red Fence in Locke   12" x 16" oil on canvas   Plein Air

My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art

Another Summer Morning in Locke

The first Saturday of each month is a standing Sacramento Plein Air Painters gathering in Locke, California.  I don't always make it, but as anyone who reads my blog knows, Locke is one of my favorite places to paint around Sacramento.

I joined Martha Esch, a Locke shop owner, resident and facilitator of the Plein Air Painters Meetup site, along with several other painters for a gorgeous summer morning in Locke.  I've painted both of these buildings before, but this is the first time I've put both into the same scene.  I tried to keep things simple...going for the major shapes and resisting the temptation to paint every detail.  That can be a fatal error in Locke, where there is so much going on that it can be overwhelming.  I tried hard to remember to squint all the time, looking for the lights and darks and sticking with that.

This is a small 9 x 12 oil on a RayMar panel.

Locke 9.7.2013   Oil on canvas panel.  9" x 12"

Martha Esch snapped this picture.  I can truthfully say I never knew this was going on.  I think I need to step away from the easel once in a while.  My workshop instructors...Suchitra Bhosle, in particular...are always telling me that, but for a different reason.




My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art

A Kiwi in Locke - Plein Air

 Today the Sacramento Plein Air Painters met in the on-going First Saturday paint-out in Locke.  A good number showed up and it was a really lovely summer morning.  I found this little spot looking through a vacant lot on Main Street and into the back yard fence and yard of a small house beyond.  At this time of the morning the west facing house and fence were in deep shade, but the tin roof was beginning to emerge into sunlight and the yard was getting full sun.  A New Zealand flag hung from the beam of the rear porch.  I learned learned later that the lady living there is a New Zealander...and I had a chance to say hello.  

I pushed the darks hard on this Plein Air Study in the hope of emphasizing the lighted areas.  The roses were in the light for the most part and were quite striking, but I didn't have an appropriate red to make them pop.  When the painting drys a bit, I'll add a little emphasis in the rose blooms.

It was a great morning in Locke once again.

A Kiwi in Locke   Oil on panel   16 x 12 

This original plein air painting is available unframed at
My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art

Adapting in Locke!!

 Any plein air painter will tell you that a part of the process is adapting.  Wind, rain, heat, cold, various critters large and small, all add an element of adventure to the process...as if getting a decent painting wasn't tough enough.

On Saturday I went to the small Delta town of Locke to paint.   I've mentioned Locke in many previous posts, so I'll just say that it's a favorite spot with endless subject matter.  It was a quiet morning, with beautiful weather.  I picked a building and started the block-in.

A tranquil morning in Locke...

As I sketched, someone mentioned that a Cinco de Mayo motorcycle ralley was on the way.  Motorcycles are nothing new in Locke....it's a favored stop on most motorcycle runs in the Sacramento Delta area, and, of course, it's also home to the famous bar "Al the Wop's" ...a classic biker watering hole.  

....interrupted!

And then...in a deafening roar, they showed up!  I'd guess about 100 bikes rolled into main street.  I was surrounded!  

Adapt!  Paint Motorcycles!!

 There was nothing to do but adapt.  In a near-brilliant flash of self preservation, I added the bikes to my painting!







 And I even won over a few admirers.  I painted on.    What a blast!  My painting didn't come out that well, but it was a great morning...and I have a lot of material for future paintings.

Adapt!  Pretend nothing unusual is happening!  Paint on!

Here's my 9 x 12 painting.  A fun sketch...and maybe inspiration for a larger studio painting?  

Adapt, adapt!  There's really nothing quite like plein air painting. 

My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art

A Cold Morning in Locke!

This morning I joined the Sacramento Plein Air Painters Meetup Group for the regular "first Saturday of the month" paint out in Locke.  It's one of my favorite plein air locations.  Martha Esch led a small group of artists into the slough area behind Locke for a hiking and sketching trip while I stayed behind and painted the town!

In the early morning, the sun was out and, although it was chilly, it felt comfortable.  However, as the morning wore on, it got colder and colder...or so it seemed to me.  Standing virtually motionless at the easel for the better part of two hours was no doubt a large part of the challenge.  Fortunately, hot coffee was available just a walk down main street at Al the Wop's famous dive bar and restaurant.

This little plein air study is 12" x 9" on a raymar canvas panel.  I started out with a pencil sketch and even went so far as to establish my vanishing point and horizon line (thank you Terry Muira!)  And speaking of Terry, I shamelessly stole his technique as well -at least as well as I could - but then that's why I took the workshop, right Terry??  When I returned to the studio this afternoon, I added a few palette knife strokes to establish a few edges, suggest the direction of the building siding, and put in the powerlines.

Locke Cultural Center  Plein Air oil on 12" x 9" canvas panel

  Martha Esch returned with her group and snapped this photo as I was finishing up. 

A Beautiful November Day in Locke

Our November weather has been astonishing.  While so many folks suffer in the aftermath of the storm on the East Coast, Sacramento residents have been bathed in bright sunshine and blue skies.  It's too good to pass up.  Today I traveled 35 miles south to the incredible little town of Locke, California.  If you've read many of my previous posts, you know it's a favorite location for painting and meeting up with artist friends..although I don't think I have been there this summer!  Today artists Martha Esch and Ernie Wester were on hand.

As sometimes happens to me in Locke, I could not settle on an subject.  There's something about the place that just overwhelms me at times.  There's just too much to choose from...and the temptation to bite off too much is as strong as it is intimidating.  After about 2 hours or wandering from spot to spot, making small sketches and then moving on, Martha challenged me and her son Charlie to a 10 minute "sketch off" of a hot rod '36 Ford that pulled up right in front of us.  That little exercise broke the ice and I made my choice, got the easel set up and was painting almost immediately afterward.  (We gave the sketches to the car owner.)

This is my 12" x 16" oil sketch of "Strange Cargo" a charming little shop in Locke.  I loved all the 'stuff' out in front and tried to capture that without falling into the trap of doodling detail forever.  It was a great day....So glad I went to Locke once again.

"Strange Cargo", Locke, Californin 12" x 16" oil on canvas panel.

Here's our sketches on the running board and tucked under the windshield wiper waiting for the car owner.

During the day, a busload of Chinese tourists came to Locke. Martha's painting and her personality soon had them swarming her.  She is a magnet for kids of any culture and shortly after this photo was taken, she had three or four of them sitting at the easel painting!  Amazing.  What a great day!!!

Martha and Chinese tourists in Locke, CA