This sketch is from late January. No thanks to the Kincade fire, the family ranch had been charred black for weeks, then we had our first rain and they magically turned a brilliant shade of green. I did my best to capture it.
Interesting side note, because the fires burned back all the grass it exposed a bunch of petrified wood in the area where I’m standing.
Avoiding C19, people and our iPads, my boys and I escaped the house for a hike up Ring Mountain. It was a lovely day so I started a painting of neighboring Mt. Tam but by the end of an hour the kids had lost their patience and water so I was forced to make a premature retreat to the car. Back in quarantine, I continued to clean up the painting a bit while they continued their adventuring in Minecraft.
Painting in China Camp State Park again. This time on the Turtles Back hiking loop looking south towards the road.
It stopped raining for a bit so I drove over to China Camp State Park and painted the view looking west from Buckeye Point.
Lunchtime plein air painting. Not far from the road over looking Baker Beach in the Persidio, San Francisco
A lunchtime plein air study at the palace of fine arts
A plein air study painted at the Robert Young Estate.
My boy Wiley and and I hiked up the hill behind my Grandmas house to do a little painting. It was blisteringly hot and we only lasted about 1.5hrs before we melted. Wiley was a champ, he painted for about twenty minutes then for the next hour shared an in-depth thesus on the pros and cons of different Minecraft hacks. We had a great time.
Below is his artistic contribution.
After a twenty year dry spell I’ve started painting in oil again. For a brief time in college I gave it a go but life on the road made it an impractical medium for me. Instead I spent the last twenty years with my nose to a computer. Over the last few months I’ve fallen in love with the medium again. It’s both a struggle and a joy remembering how to use it. I never had any formal training in oil so I’m I’m starting from scratch. I’ve been watching YouTube videos on everything from brush care to oiling out canvas. I’m having a great time. I love all the added complexities oil painting brings.
I’ve sat on this painting for a few months, it wasn’t concept art for the show, just a fan painting I made while on my lunch break. The wolves are one of my favorite elements of season four. The more I worked with them the more they bored their way into my imagination. I understand Dave’s obsession with them now.
Really looking forward to the second half of the season airing. I’m so happy with how it came out.
Found twenty minutes to paint while passing though Dunsmuir on my way north to see the great American eclipse in Oregon. Forgot to bring ink so I’ll clean this up a bit later. Can’t complain, after six hours in the car with three boys just sitting by a river is bliss.
