Apple Pie Ranch, Big Sur, CA

Quick sketch in a small book.  

Apple Pie Ranch is a mountain top retreat above Big Sur with amazing 360 degree views of canyon, valley and ocean. This is the pool and small portion of the gardens.

Arrived at Leucadia

Just arrived and will start painting tomorrow.  Here are three paintings from a previous visit.

 Oceanside Beach Stairs

 Swami's Overlook

Torrey Pines Adobe

Leucadia, CA

Three looser and larger sketches observing tree forms at Batiquitos Lagoon and Seabluffe. Opaque watercolors on Canson paper. 14" x 20"

North shore of Batiquitos Lagoon

South shore of Batiquitos Lagoon

Looking south from Seabluffe

Thanksgiving Sketches in Death Valley and Oceanside

Family camping in Death Valley for Thanksgiving and had just enough time for a single sketch at Death Valley Scotty's Castle. Then off to Southern California and had the opportunity for one more sketch at Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside.

Along the West Coast

Visiting family and friends I didn't get a lot of painting time but did do these four. Quick, small, and using an absorbent paper.  All scenes near our kid's homes.

Old Scotch Church, Hillsboro, OR

Farm Fields, Hillsboro, OR

 Glen Park Neighborhood, San Francisco, CA

Garden View from "The Establishment" SLO, CA

May sketches at Leucadia

Had another chance to go to Leucadia, California.  Here are two quick sketches focusing on the the relationship of architecture and trees.  The third is a section of succulent garden I've planted which imitates a coral reef.  It was started outdoors and finished in the studio.  Looser outdoors, then it got tighter in the studio.  That is the nature of taking a painting indoors.

A Spring Break near the beach

An escape from the snow and smog and I got to paint-out with an old college roommate, Ken Harris.
I stopped at the Cajon Pass on my way to CA for a few hours and found myself at "Mormon Rocks".

Ken (seen in silhouette) and I painted above Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, CA.

An overcast sky at the edge of the ocean gave a chance for a moody simple landscape at the Batiquitos Lagoon Trail, Carlsbad, CA.

Morro Bay, CA

An Autumn trip to the California coast gave me a chance to do a sketch at Morro Bay.

In post tourist season, things were very quiet.

7"x 9" on Handmade Indian Paper

San Luis Obispo and "June gloom" by the beach in Encinitas, California

College graduation and a family reunion gave me the opportunity to paint each morning for a week!

Outside sunny San Luis Obispo. 2 views from the same spot, first looking north, second looking south

June in the beach towns near San Diego is foggy "June Gloom",  I have often driven inland to get out of the fog, but decided this time to figure out how to paint the muted color and represent the effect of the fog.

The days in Encinitas were fog bound, but a thinner layer of beach fog at the La Costa Resort gave me a chance to get colorful in the gardens.

Painting in San Diego again

With a few days in San Diego, I got a chance to do a few on-site paintings. One at the Del Mar Race track and the other at Balboa park. It was a little tricky to paint facing into the sun at Balboa, which bleached out color, but heightened the range in values.