Old Shadows - Plein air During Kathleen Dunphy workshop

In my preceding post, I talked about my great experience attending a workshop with Kathleen Dunphy in Murphys California on the last weekend in April.  We had a few weather challenges, but the intensity of the workshop and the learning experience was never interrupted.

On the second day, we finally got a break in the rain and I was able to get in one painting.  I tried very hard to use the lessons gleaned from Kathleen's invaluable teaching.   I think her guidance shows.

Old Shadows    Oil on linen panel    12" x 8.5"

My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art

A Fabulous 3-Day Workshop with Kathleen Dunphy in Murphys California

I've followed Kathleen Dunphy's excellent blog for several years.  I highly recommend it.
And if you've followed my blog for awhile, you know that I had an opportunity to meet her once when I was fortunate enough to receive her "Juror's Award" at a show in Murphys.  I later took advantage of her good nature by....well, it's a fun story and you can read it in an earlier post.
(Meeting Kathleen Dunphy, April 27, 2013)


I FINALLY was able to register for one of Kathleen's fairly rare workshops - they fill up fast!- and on the weekend of April 25 - 27, I spent a fabulous three days learning from the best.  It is hard to describe how impressed I was with Kathleen personally and as a teacher.  To say that she is charming and gracious would be understating it.  I couldn't get over her patience with all of us in the workshop.  She never stopped smiling and joking.  But she brought more than good humor to the classroom.

Kathleen Dunphy, Artist and Teacher   April 25, 2015

This is the hard part to relate.  Maybe just telling how her teaching open a door for me will do it best.  On the first day of the workshop, we spent most of the day in lecture and demonstrations by Kathleen.  At about 3 pm, we went outside to paint.  It wasn't until later that I truely appreciated this approach.  I mean we are in a painting workshop to paint, right?  Well....

I finished my only painting of the day about 6 pm.  I felt the feelings of frustration and disappointment that are almost a hallmark of plein air painting for me.  When I returned to my hotel room I began to reflect on Kathleen's lecture during the day.  In particular I thought about her comments that as artists we can "fix" painting problems with logic.  We don't have to be ruled by emotions, particularly the negative ones.  Fighting down the feelings of futilitythat threatened to defeat me again, I found Kathleen's class handouts and my sketchbook and I began to analyze my painting, LOGICALLY.  Realizing that I might have settled too quickly on a design, I drew a few new thumbnails exploring other ways I could have composed the painting.  Using Kathleen's guidelines,I wrote notes about what I felt went wrong during the painting process, and then what I will do specifically to correct that next time.  And when I was done, the frustration was gone. Gone.  Imagine that.  I couldn't wait for tomorrow and another chance to paint. That was when I realized the power she had given me.  And why in a painting workshop, sometimes painting isn't the first order of business. 

It's up to me of course.  To be a painter, I have to paint.  A lot.  But I don't have to paint the same way I have always painted and HOPE to magically improve somehow.  For the very first time - amazingly enough at my age - I understand that improvement isn't about luck or about taking the right workshop or buying the right easel.  It's a logical process.  Every painting is an opportunity to study and learn, even the ones that eventually go in the burn pile.  (And hopefully, those will be fewer and fewer over time thanks to people like Kathleen.)  I seems so simple when I write it now.  Why of course, what did you think?  But that is the whole point,isn't it?  I didn't.  But I will....that's my promise to myself. 

My only regret about taking Kathleen's workshop is that I didn't do it long ago. 

Kathleen Dunphy, Artist   Demonstrating at Ironstone Vineyard lake

Do the days get much better than this????  I don't think so. 

My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art

Selected as "Featured Artist" by Fine Art Studios Online

I am very pleased to have been honored by Fine Arts Studio Online (FASO) as a "Featured Artist" for my plein air paintings.  FASO can be found at this link  http://faso.com  if you'd like to learn more about them.

With the permission of FASO, I have included their very nice article below: 

FASO Featured Artists: Artist Bruce Hancock

by Carrie Turner on 11/23/2014 11:45:54 AM

This article is by Carrie Turner, editor of FineArtViews. During her tenure as editor, FineArtViews has been mentioned or referenced by The Huffington Post, MLive, WorldNetDaily (WND), artnet, COMPANY, American Artist Magazine, ArtBizBlog, The Abundant Artist, EmptyEasel and many other publications and blogs. FASO Featured Artists (FFA) is a regular blog series on FineArtViews. Art critic Brian Sherwin is a consultant for the FFA series.  The FFA selections are featured prominently on the FineArtViews newsletter -- and are shared with over 26,115+ subscribers. You can read about other recent FASO Featured Artists by clicking here.

The Old Foundry - Sutter Creek by artist Bruce Hancock

(Oil)

Artist Bruce Hancock strives to capture the people, places, color and culture of America in oil. His plein air paintings are a joy to observe -- each image offers a reflective look at a moment caught in time. Bruce notes that he is devoted to the study and practice of the art of painting.

Bodega Bay Afternoon by artist Bruce Hancock

(Oil on Canvas Panel)

Bruce Hancock offered some thoughts about his life as an artist: "Coming late in life to the easel has presented me with challenges and opportunities in abundance.   After the initial excitement of returning to painting, I began to understand how much I had to learn.  To grow as an artist, I regularly study through workshops and studio sessions with gifted artists I admire.  I have to admit that I feel the pressure of time.  There is so much to learn and to experience and to try.  But I understand too that the artist’s journey has no end, no matter when in life it began."

Art critic Brian Sherwin, editor of The Art Edge, offered some thoughts about Hancock's plein air paintings. Sherwin stated, "Bruce captures the energy of a scene by utilizing bold marks and color. The expressive nature of his work documents a moment caught in time." 

Final Rest at Noyo Harbor by artist Bruce Hancock

(Oil on Canvas)

You can learn more about artist Bruce Hancock by visiting www.brucehancockfineart.com.

My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art

Dolphin Cove Morning

As I mentioned in my previous post, I had an opportunity to paint with friends in the Ft. Bragg and Mendocino areas just this October.   On the last morning there, we visited Dolphin Cove, which is just a little way further up the Noyo River from Noyo Harbor, a place I have painted many, many times.

When I arrived at the Cove at about 9 in the morning, it was still in deep shade.  The high bluffs and fir trees forming the east and south rim around the harbor blocked the sun even this late in the morning.  However I could see that the track of the sun would soon bring it over the ridgeline and the light would begin to reach the boats in the harbor.  I set up my easel at the water's edge and by the time I was ready to paint, the sun had reached the boats on my side of the docking area, while the boats and the hillside on the other side remained in shadow.  It made a dramatic scene of light against dark.

I painted a 12 x 16 plein air piece of two of the boats in front of me.  It's posted below.  After returning I decided I wanted to do a slightly larger and more finished studio version of the same scene.  Fortunately, I had taken a couple of pictures to use along with the plein air painting as reference.

Painting in the studio, I was able to carry the painting further.  In particular I wanted to emphasize the brilliant intensity of the morning light against the dark background.  Of course, my studio painting does not have the immediacy of the plein air experience, but in exchange I was able to develop areas and details a bit further.  At the same time, I tired to concentrate on maintaining some looseness in areas of the painting...and to be careful not to over paint.

Dolphin Cove Morning  20 x 16  Oil on stretched canvas

 This is the plein air work of the same scene.

I've begun to pare down my palette lately - both when painting in plein air and in the studio.  Both of the paintings above were done with the limited palette for the most part. I'm not rigid about it and I feel free to add any tube color I feel might be useful, but I am generally using only about 4-5 colors plus white.  I've borrowed Kathleen's Dumphy's palette pretty much, which she generously shares on her blog along with huge amounts of wonderful information about her painting experience and technique.  The palette is Naples Yellow Deep, Cad Yellow Lemon, Cad Red Medium, Ultramarine Deep, Transparent Oxide Red, and Titanium White.  All of the colors are Rembrandt except the Cad Yellow Lemon, which at Kathleen's suggestion is Utrecht.  The TOR is my addition to the palette.  It's a color I find invaluable in so many ways.  I would have a difficult time painting without it...and it's easily my most used color. (I'm cutting way down on white also, except when it is an obvious color in the scene, as in the two paintings above.)   Kathleen rounds out her limited palette with Rembrandt Cold Gray.  I have it on my palette too, but I haven't learned to use it comfortably yet.  I will be taking a workshop from Kathleen in April and I hope to remedy that!

I rarely have a tube green on my palette.  Mixing greens from blue and yellow and modifying them with red or TOR gives a nice variety and I don't often feel the need for the tube greens.  I still find uses for Viridian....it's a distinctive color that I can't mix.  For many years I used large amounts of yellow ochre and I still squeeze it out nearly every time out of habit.  But I'm finding less and less need for it and I'm now wasting way more than I'm using.

I find the limited palette very comfortable.  As I said, I don't feel constrained to use only those few colors...this isn't some kind of challenge or test...but the more I paint with the limited palette,the less often I feel the need for other colors.  


My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art

Four Days In Fort Bragg, California

Once again I journeyed to Ft. Bragg to join good art friends on a four day painting trip to Ft. Bragg and Mendocino.  It was another workshop by artist instructor Howard Rees of Jackson, California.  A quick scan back over my 170 blog posts shows that this was the fourth such trip I’ve recorded here.  Many Ft. Bragg trip veterans showed up: it’s become something of an October event and gathering as well as a workshop.

The weather forecast in the week leading up to the trip was grim.  Every day was forecast as cold and overcast, with rain on the two days smack dab in the middle of the time.  But as we got closer to the time, the forecast began to change slightly for the better.   In fact, the plein air gods smiled on us and we had simply beautiful days the entire trip except for the second day of the trip which was very overcast.  

Our first day was a Monday morning.   First we did an exercise Howard wanted us to try and it was a good reminder of some fundamental rules for plein air.   The idea was to paint a small landscape on 8 x 10 canvas using no more than 50 brush strokes.  And you had to put a dot on the side of the canvas for each stroke.  In other words, PLAN every stroke, EXECUTE with plenty of paint every time, and NO NOODLING and LICKING!  Put it down and leave it!  As you can see, the idea isn't to produce a great work of art, but to loosen up and begin to think before you paint.  Great ice breaker exercise!  
 

50 stroke practice  oil on 8 x 10 panel  Sand and insects borrowed from Ft. Bragg

Then we moved on to the mouth of Noyo Harbor and I painted this 8 x 16 view of the buildings at the entry of the harbor.   

Entering Noyo Harbor   Oil on 8 x 16 canvas panel

 On the second cloudy grey day, I really struggled.  I’m not sure why, but it was one of those days when I simply forgot everything.  I didn’t have a plan, I started without an end in mind, I mixed color and applied paint without thought and as though I had never done either before.  I wiped down both paintings that day.   That’s a lousy feeling and something I HATE to do.  Giving up is the wrong decision always.  I know that, and yet I could not get past it.  The next day found me with the same listless feeling and I thought for a while that I would crash and burn again, but the day was beautiful and I worked my way through the funk.  Thanks go to Howard too…he’s been there done that…and he wasn’t going to let me chicken out again.  “No wiping,” he said. “ Finish what you start and bring it to critique tonight.”   Well, I had to have something to show up with, so the die was cast.  I painted a two simple landscapes on a smaller panel…which was a good choice.  It sure was a nicer feeling to complete something.   Here’s the first of the two:

Mendocino Memories  Oil on 9 x 12 canvas panel

 To PURCHASE or BUY "Mendocino Memories", please click HERE.

The second was almost the same view, but much closer to the tree and the cliff.  However, other than the lighting, it looks virtually the same as the first.  Crazy as it seems, I didn't even realize how similar they were until I was home.  It probably reflects that I was not all there even on the third day! 

Mendocino Afternoon   Oil on 9 x 12 canvas panel

Our last day was back in the harbor again, but this time a little farther up the river to ‘Dolphin Cove”.   We only painted in the morning, then enjoyed a terrific lunch at a diner in the Cove…and then it was head for home time.  In the morning, the sun was blocked for several hours by the hills and forest above the cove, but finally it reach the boats at dock and I painted this 12 x 16 of one called “BBBeezy Bill”.   I think it was my most success painting of the trip.

 

Dolphin Cove Morning   Oil on 12 x 16 canvas panel 

     

It was another fantastic outing with good friends and talented artists.  My thanks to Howard and Janey Rees for patient mentoring and making sure the trip was a success.  And a sincere thanks for the painting memories to Ted, Norm (and Dianna), Ruth, Julie, Vickie (and Jack), Andy (and Cindy), Renee (and Noni) Brian, Judy (and Larry) and Bob Engle, who drove from Texas (I'm serious) to be with us again. 



My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art

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

Sutter Creek Scene - Plein Air

Howard Rees and I met up in Sutter Creek on Friday to enjoy the beautiful summer weather and get some plein air painting in.  The morning couldn't have been more pleasant.  We went to the small park which is pinched between a parking lot and a small stream which bisects the town.  If you didn't know it was there, you'd probably never find it.

I have been working in my studio very sporadically on a copy of a painting by John Godward.  Other than that I haven't been behind the easel much for several weeks.  It was good to get out there once again.

This is the rear of a group of buildings which border the creek.  I was on one side of the water, in the park, looking across.  I've painted the main building before...it's the home of Pizza Plus, definitely great pizza!  And cold beer. 

Sutter Creek Scene   12 x 16 oil primed linen panel. 

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

My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art

Drytown and the Old Well Cafe

Drytown is a tiny town in the heart of the California Gold Rush countryside.  It's one of the first places I ever did plein air painting...and it is always fun to return there.  I'm not knowledgeable about Drytown's history, but I'm told that the name does not refer to any kind of 'prohibition'.  Quite the contrary.  In it's hayday, Drytown had 65 bars!  I have no idea where 65 bars could have fit into tiny Drytown....but apparently it was a bit larger than it is today.   The little white building is the Old Well Cafe.  I don't know its history either except it's been there forever, apparently.  Funky would describe it best, I think.

I painted in Drytown on Friday with artist friends Ruth Andre, Julie Trail and Howard Rees.  It was a nice day...a lull between welcome rain storms.   We painted all morning and then had lunch in the Old Well Cafe.   A good day. 

Drytown and the Old Well Cafe   Plein air oil on linen 9x12

My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art

Along Railroad Avenue - Plein Air

I joined the David Peterson Third Saturday Meetup of the Sacramento Plein Air Painters in Roseville.   This was my first time painting in Roseville.  We met at the center of the "old town" area.  There were several fine old buildings there but nothing really struck my fancy on this particular sunny day.   I wandered down a block to Railroad Avenue, which runs parallel to the enormous Roseville rail yards.   (OK.  I found out it isn't Railroad Avenue, it's Vernon Street.  I don't know about you, but I like the sound of Railroad Ave. a whole lot better.  It SHOULD be Railroad Avenue, so that's what I'm calling it!)  Most of the interesting things were quite far off, but I found this small string of gondolas and one box car on a siding with some interesting brick structures in the distance.

I moved a few things around and added some stuff that wasn't there and came up with this.  

Along Railroad Avenue    16" x 12" Oil on linen panel.  

My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art

The Foundry - Sutter Creek Plein Air

On a whim early this morning I called my artist friend Howard Rees to see if he was free for some plein air painting.  Fortunately he was!  And to add to my last minute luck, at an art event the evening before, Julie Trail had told Howard she would be painting at the Foundry in Sutter Creek.

We met there in the most incredible spring weather....I think it reached at least 80 degrees...it was calm and the skies were clear and blue.  Wow, what a day.  Amazing.

The Foundry is actually a collection of buildings.   It is no longer in operation, but I think the history dates back to the Gold Rush, when the Foundry built mining implements.    It's a great collection of wooden buildings.  Unfortunately, they are pretty neglected...and in a decade or two, I'm sure they'll be gone.  But in the meantime, what a wonderful plein air subject.

We had a great time painting and then repaired to Pizza Plus in Sutter Creek for some absolutely delicious pizza, and, of course, an ice cold 24 oz beer.   Things don't get a lot better than that.

The Old Foundry - Sutter Creek  Oil on linen panel  12"x16"

When I got home this afternoon, I took the painting into the studio for some final touches.  As often happens when I paint in bright light, the painting overall was a bit dark.   I lightened the side of the building, which .helped define the structure a little more clearly and also reduced a large dark area.  I also added a few suggestions of greenery above the roof line.  I had originally painted some very light -almost white - sky there to separate the roof from the burnt umber tone I had previously applied, but it was too intense and distracting.  Adding the green and gray tones calmed it down and allowed the building to come forward.  Finally, I added some interest and texture in the near surface of the road and around the painting in general.   All in all, the time in the studio was probably less than 20 minutes.

I'm pleased with the painting.  Again I tried to plan before I started by doing a small sketch of the composition and the lights and darks.  I wanted to resist painting and then correection, painting and correcting, painting and noodling.  I blocked in everything with Transparent Maroon and Ultramarine Deep.  After my first block in, I did not like the size and location of the building, so I wiped out most of it and blocked it in again.  That's a real advantage of blocking in with transparent color line and wash on a non-absorbent oil primed panel.  Once I had it as I wanted it, I began to add color and to define shapes with restated darks as much as possible.  There was a lot of jumble and junk around the area.   I felt it was critical to capture the feeling of that junk without getting caught up in rendering it.  It's interesting how much you can suggest without really painting anything specific at all.  Those intense darks in the foreground junk also made for some great contrast with the light areas in the foreground as well.   I love the effect of that relationship....it gives such life and energy.  This painting was a lot of fun. 

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

Willie's on Broadway Plein Air Oil

David Peterson, Sacramento's cherished watercolor artist, hosts a plein air paint out on the third Saturday of each month.  He has been doing this for a long time, I understand.  Currently the Sacramento Plein Air Painters meetup.com site serves as the source for information about the time and place of David's paint outs, as it does for dozens of other plein air events, thanks to moderator Martha Esch's tireless efforts. ( http://www.meetup.com/Sacramento_Plein_Air_Painters/ )

Last Saturday, we met at the parking lot of Willie's a Sacramento favorite for hamburgers and chili fries.  Right across Broadway from Willie's is the Iconic Tower Theater which was the starting point for the world famous Tower Records.  The weather was incredible, and most of us were in shirt sleeves by 10 am.  The majority of the group painted the well known "tower" of the Tower Theater, but I decided to turn and face Willie's and give that a try.

My goal here was to capture the feeling of Willie's and the rear of a neighboring gas station.  I wanted to get the 'urban clutter' feel.   I had a 16" x 20" linen panel already toned in a pretty garish red-orange.  That's a lot larger than I usually attempt when doing plein air painting, but I wanted the width to give me room to block in the structures without getting too small.  I decided to ignore the bright tone, even though I was thinking "vignette" right from the start, meaning that the tone would be a major player.

I made a very conscious decision to try to paint the shapes and shadows and avoid painting things.  I also resolved to think in layers: block in of major shapes and shadow without detail, locate few edges to define shapes slightly, add some pieces of color placed as judiciously as possible and finally place the 'clutter'.   I think that plan worked well overall.

Willie's on Broadway    Oil on 14" x 20" linen panel.

It's surprising how many missteps can be made even when one knows better.  I made several here.  The most obvious is the placement of the large pole....almost dead center!  I even compounded that by sketching in a parking lot curb that leads almost vertically to the base of the pole, thus effectively splitting the painting in two!  I considered painting the pole out and relocating it, but decided against it.  I didn't want to start getting fussy for one thing.  For another, this is a plein air sketch.  If I were to try to translate it into a studio painting, I'd shift the pole -- maybe.  But in the end, I started liking it.  There's a certain tension that it creates.  It's all part of the mess.  It's edgy.  Maybe it's OK.  Maybe not.   But it stays.

I've cropped the painting in this picture to 14" x 20", cutting two inches off the bottom.  That's in keeping with the reason for the selection of this panel anyway....it was the width I needed.  The height is superfluous.  I'm going to cut down the panel to this size.  

All in all, a great morning on Broadway.  I had a double cheeseburger and garlic fries afterward.  Don't tell my cardiologist.  Although overall, I think both my heart and soul got a boost by being in the sun with artist friends again....thanks David!


My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art

Morning Light on the Jackson Court House

This painting started as a plein air study and ended up being completely repainted in the studio.  My friend Howard Rees and I met in Jackson (Howard's home) and visited the old courthouse, now a museum, to paint.  We both set up in the same location where the morning light coming through the trees and skimming across the side of the building made a striking scene.  (Fortunately I took a picture as I was setting up - the one thing I did right that day!)

I made the classic mistake of 'chasing the light' which very quickly lit up the entire building as the shadows fell away.  Doing that, I lost the very thing that was so appealing earlier in the morning.  On top of that basic error, I had committed a number of drawing mistakes.  My perspective wasn't correct and I had placed the building too far to one side of the composition.  There were a number of simple drawing and relationship errors as well. In short, I had done a very poor job of planning the painting in the beginning and then compounded that mistake with lousy, rushed execution.  Normally I would have wiped the painting down to save the RayMar panel or simply set it aside to join a pile of other failed works.  But I was bothered that I had missed the target so widely on this effort and I decided to try to learn from it.

After the painting was completely dry, I redrew the building directly on the panel with charcoal.  I paid attention to the perspective in particular.  The colors in the original plein air work were dull, particularly in the sunlit areas, including the side of the building.  I pushed the color a bit in some places....or so I thought....but interestingly it turned out much closer to the 'real thing' than I would have guessed.

In the end, I felt good that I had not given up...that instead, I found solutions and worked through the problems.  The next time I go out to paint on location, I'll have this little exercise to fall back on.

Morning Light On The Jackson Courthouse   Oil on 16" x 12" canvas panel

  


My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art

Early Morning in Noyo Harbor - Plein Air

I've painted in Noyo Harbor at Fort Bragg California a number of times now.  There is so much great subject matter there that I can't resist, even though  finding places out of the way isn't always easy.  The light in the harbor can be difficult at times also.  It is surrounded by cliffs and high hills so that it is in shade early and late in the day.  At times I've found myself wishing for some light on the subject.  At other times, like the morning I painted this study, the light is very intense, almost blinding.

On this day I set up at the very mouth of the harbor, looking into it from a distance. Even though it was about 10 am in the morning, the sun was just reaching the harbor basin.  The low light streaming in from the left created a bright reflection on the morning mist that blocked most of the buildings and boats in the inner harbor from view.  There were intense reflections in the water as well.  I was hesitant at first to try to paint the scene because it was difficult to see into the harbor at all, but it was very striking and I couldn't resist trying.  As I painted the mist lifted and a few more of the distant structures became visible.  I omitted some for simplicity and barely suggested others, letting the light dominate.

This was a quick attempt to capture some of the feeling of that morning light.

Early Morning in Noyo Harbor   Oil on canvas panel   8" x 16"

My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art

Main Street, Mendocino, CA

 In a previous post, I described my recent four day plein air painting experience in Fort Bragg and Mendocino, CA.  What a great time with amazing weather, the incomparable Pacific coast scenery and old artist friends.  

On the second day, we traveled the few miles from our home base in Ft. Bragg to Mendocino to paint.  Having painted the ocean the day before, I was interested in something different in Mendocino.  I've painted there before so I knew what to expect.  I had in mind that I would walk toward the ocean from Main Street and then turn around to paint the store fronts of Mendocino.  When I did that, I realized that the scene was not quite as dramatic as I had remembered.  I did a quick pencil sketch and changed some of the elements....moving the watertower, omitting some buildings and changing the relative size of others.   I also decided to try a 10" x 20" Ampersand Gessobord.  I love the 1:2 ratio for landscapes...it seems to depict the scene the way we naturally see it...but Gessobord was a little bit of a wrinkle.  I've painted on smaller Gessobord panels, but I had no experience with the larger format.

As a result of the different painting surface and the realization that I was 're-imaging' the scene anyway, I did something much different than my normal approach.  I painted quite broadly, trying to catch the essence of the scene...the lights and darks...without attempting to represent even a rough level of detail.  The result is a significant departure from my 'norm'....not a bad thing at all!

Main Street, Mendocino, CA   Oil on panel  10" x 20" 

 SOLD

My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art

Ft. Bragg and Mendocino in October. Spectacular!

McKerricher State Park just north of Ft. Bragg

For the third time (fourth??) I joined many artist friends at a Howard Rees workshop in Ft. Bragg and Mendocino.  October is a magnificent time on the coast, and this trip was proof!  Cool mornings, warm afternoons, and just one windy afternoon (an understatement...a couple of easels went over.) to  remind us that plein air painting is not for the timid.

Here are a few of the wonderful scenes that greeted us each day....and a some of the artists and friends who were along on the trip.  Not pictured....Julie, Vickie, Judy, Barbara, David, Renee. 

Bob ..traveled from Dallas Texas!!!

Andy

Ruth

Howard, Bob, Ted, Norm

And here are some of the scenes I got to paint...

Mendocino  (This painting sold) 

Along the coast near Ft. Bragg

Mendocino

None of the pictures do the trip justice, but they do give a hint of the incredible scenery and beautiful weather we had.  I wish I had taken more pictures of the painters who came from Washington, Dallas, Berkeley, Vallejo, Rescue, Jackson, and other places I'm no doubt forgetting.  As you can see below, it was a great group!!

Dinner with friends in Ft. Bragg, CA October 2013. 

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