Pigeon Point Light House

Hello everyone!  It's been a while since I updated.  More than a month ago I finished my Art Deco Pin-up painting, which is now hanging at Gallery 9 in Los Altos.  Then my wife and I went on vacation to Ecuador.  We returned and I was slow in getting my next creation under way.  Well, here you go....Pigeon Point Light House.  If you are not familiar with this light house it is just north of Santa Cruz maybe 15-20 miles.  My excitement for this painting will be found in the water and waves.  As you can see the lighthouse itself is quite small as well as the peninsula that it sits on.  When I took the photo for this painting the drama of the waves and the different colors in the water is what spoke to me.  Hopefully when I am through it will speak to you as well.  Here's the early progress..

I am facing a couple of real busy weeks ahead where I am not going to be able to do a lot of painting so it will likely be a month or so before I can near completion on this.  Please check back toward the end of June.  Cheers, Mark.

The Figure

The art gallery that I am a member of, Gallery 9 in Los Altos, is having a group member show in the month of June.  The theme for the show is "The Figure".  If you have been following this blog you will note that I have not painted many figures and you will also note that I have never painted a female figure.  So, I went for it...and here's the result...

My goal was to produce a piece that resembled World War II pinup art.  There is a famous pinup artists from that period with the last name Vargas.  Google Vargas for a nice show of pinup artistry.  

1000 Island Lake

On a backpack trip with my daughter Megan a couple of summers ago we hiked up to 1000 Island Lake in the eastern Sierras.  One day I took a photo of the lake just prior to an afternoon rain shower.  I like the reflected clouds and the sense of peace that you experience when you have a place to yourself.

Here's my interpretation....

Santa Cruz Boardwalk in two panels

So I finished the two paintings of the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.  I wish this blog allowed for side by side photos but I haven't figured out how to do that.  Here's the results...

I have just started a nice sierra lake painting..I'll update in a day or so.

1st Santa Cruz Boardwalk panel just about completed

Just about to start on the 2nd panel.  I'll make tweaks to this first panel over the next couple of days, but basically this is it...

Santa Cruz Boardwalk

For maybe a year now I've been wanting to paint the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.   In my head there is this masterpiece of colors and shapes and memories that go back almost 50 years.  Last month I went over to Santa Cruz to take my reference photos.  This was my 3rd trip to do so.  It was a beautiful day and I walked out to the end of the Santa Cruz pier, and Bingo!  I shoot 8 great photos in a panarama that is the boardwalk. 

Now the fun part - how do I render all those great buildings and roller coasters and colors - holy cow!  I need to do a painting 6 feet wide, there's so much there!  Well 6 feet is out of the question, but how about two 3 footers?  OK, I'm in the early stages of my first two pane painting.  And this is tough.  Today I almost pulled the plug - I wasn't sure it was working or that I could make it work.  I am painting in a smaller scale than my reference photos.  My reference photos stretch out to about 7 feet - I'm painting with my smallest brushes - the tip of the brush is the same size as this letter "l".

I'm posting both panels.  I had to paint the sky and the base layer of ocean on both panels at the same time so as to have the same colors.  It would have been impossible to mix the colors for the second panel and have the sky match.

So here you go, the top photo is getting rendered.  I'm working left to right as you face the boardwalk.  I will complete this panel including all the water and beach.  Then I'll move on to the lower panel and hopefully work some magic on that one.  I hope this works - hopefully I'll have the top panel completed by a week from now - please check back to see.  Thanks - Mark

Ted and Fiona

This was a very fun painting.  As mentioned previously this was my first horse painting as well as a rare human portrait.  The setting brings back fond memories of a wonderful hike Elke and I took with our friends Suzanne and Ted.  This work accomplishes one of my main purposes in creating paintings...memorialize a memorable time with friends.