El Capitan reflection

Just last week a couple of climbers completed a first ascent of a difficult route using fingers and toes and no hardware on El Capitan, in Yosemite.  El Capitan continues to draw climbers, photographers, and artists.  This is my second painting where El Cap is a major theme.  This time though, for this spring time painting, El Cap is just a reflection in the Merced River.  Here is a photo of the first few hundred(s) of brush strokes.  Check back in a couple of weeks, hopefully you'll see s reflection, water, and a few thousand more brush strokes.
Thanks for coming by...mg

Pigeon Point Lighthouse - Finished!

Oh happy day...I finally completed Pigeon Point Lighthouse.  I started this 6 months ago...but had to sideline it when I was hired to do a couple of commissions over the summer.  Then a month in Ecuador and here we are.  I really enjoyed creating this painting.  It is a combination of 3 photos I took.  In a week or so I'll have a better photograph of this work uploaded here, when I get it back from my photographer.  I'm not sure what is up next...probably something from my trip to Cuenca, Ecuador in October.  Thanks for coming by...enjoy the rain!!  mg

Shoe Trees of Park City

Just completed a very fun project.  Good friends of ours live in Park City, Utah.  It so happens Park City has a row of trees that for more than 50 years people have launched their tennis shoes, ski boots, whatever I guess they have on at the time and then walk away....why not?  So, being loyal Park City residents our friends wanted this landmark memorialized in paint....the perfect family room addition.

The difficult and fun thing with this project is that not only did the trees and shoes need to be front and center, but of course some Park City ski runs had to be included.  When I took some reference photos it is not possible to see the ski runs and the trees at the same time.  So with some artistic license I joined tree photos and ski run photos and then the fun part...painting 422 shoes.  Here you go...

Sierra Cabin - it's a wrap!

There's not much more to say about this painting than that is was a lot of fun to interpret the photos I took last month.  This place is special, and I was very pleased today when I revealed the finished work to my friend and his wife...and they loved it.  Whew...I'm always a little nervous.  Ok, here it is...

Next up is a VERY interesting piece which has been commissioned by some good friends.  I'll reveal some of it next week.  Thanks for coming by.  mg

Sierra Cabin

I've been away from this blog for a couple of months and I don't like it.  What that means is that I haven't been spending time in my studio.  The last couple of months have been full of summer stuff - travels mainly.  Hopefully it's been the same for you.  Well, I'm back now for a couple of months before I head out again, and I have a couple of painting commissions that I need and want to attend to.  The first is a sierra cabin. 

A friend of mine has had this cabin in their family for 50 years now, and I had the great fortune of going there a couple of weeks ago to take photos.  AMAZING!  Perched at the edge of a private lake this charming cabin is a most photogenic and peaceful piece of sierra that I have experienced.  My challenge is to do this place justice with my paint and brushes.  As you see below I'm underway and am working with the smallest brushes in my arsenal.  It's slow progress but that's the name of the game.  I'll probably post one more photo along the way - I don't want to reveal too much before I reveal the final product to my friend and his wife.  Thanks for coming by...mg

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.