California Painter Tony Peters

Richard Bunkall Exhibition

2011-12-15T08:23:00.000-08:00

Working with Richard Bunkall was a life transforming experience. As a student at Art Center, and an assistant at the Mendenhall Gallery, I was already immersed in the mechanics of painting. Witnessing at first-hand, this master in his dying efforts as an artist... rocked me to the core.

Recently, I was interviewed by Southwest Art Magazine for an article about my work. I was asked also to reflect on my time working with Richard Bunkall, they are also doing an article on his upcoming exhibition at the Pasadena Museum of California Art.

I was in my early 20's during the time (1997 to 1999). Richard was at the peak of his mastery. His facility with the brush was, in my opinion, unmatched. Those images are heavy, the subjects monumental. To be in front of his paintings, I felt humbled, and you sympathize with his struggle to make them. ... they were sacred objects to me. As I'm sure they were to many viewers as well.

When I first met Richard in 1997, he was already very ill and needed a lot of help. He was no longer teaching, ALS had taken away his ability to drive, walk, or even breath on his own. It was amazing that he could physically even hold a paint brush... he actually couldn't, so he strapped one to his hand, because he could only still move a couple of fingers. His right arm was no longer strong enough to lift his hand, so he lifted it with the aid of his left. He could no longer stand, and worked seated in a motorized wheelchair/scooter. Since he couldn't reach the top of the huge canvases to paint, he would ask to have it turned upside down... yes, he actually painted upside down at times.

I was impressed with how much he fought with a painting. He would sometimes spend weeks on an area of a painting, it would look awesome. Then I would come to the studio one morning to see he'd painted over a large section of it! Building up a beautiful impasto, with lost and found ghost images. He said that his favorite paintings to look at showed some struggle.

I remember visiting Richard one day to take one of his paintings to get photographed. Duke Ellington was playing on the stereo. He asked me how my own painting was coming along in school. I showed him one of my freeway paintings, he gave me a few pointers. His words were labored, he had to wait for his respirator to fill his lungs with air. There he was on his death bed, and he was asking how I was doing! I left there that day amazed, and placed his large canvas in the back of my van. For some reason, whenever I would remove a painting from his studio to get photographed, framed, or to hang at the gallery... it would ALWAYS mysteriously rain. Then a Stevie Ray Vaughn song came on the radio as I drove... "The sky is crying, can't you see the tears rolling down the street."

**The picture below is of me, circa 1999, moving one of Bunkalls paintings in the back of my van for the gallery.

I was impressed with how Richard was determined to spend the last efforts of his life immersed in his work. He feverishly poured it all into the paintings. He spent his dying efforts still seeing his vision through, till the end. Finally, when we hung the final show at Mendenhall called "A Movable Feast", and his work was finished, he soon passed away on May 12, 1999. The show was still hanging, it wasn't even over yet. But he had reached his goal.

** The photo above was taken of me in Richard Bunkall's studio, along with Michael Murphy who I worked with at the Mendenhall Gallery.

My life was changed forever. I knew I had to be a painter, nothing else would do. I was given the gift of absolute certainty that I was on the right path. For all of us, each day is a step closer to our last. My wish is that I too will be content working through my struggles till the end, putting them onto canvas with that kind of eloquence.

Light and Shadow, Arroyo Freeway

2011-12-09T15:26:00.000-08:00

This new painting is called "Light and Shadow, Arroyo Freeway", 12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas. I have always enjoyed painting the freeways, particularly the 110 on the way to Pasadena, where I went to Art Center College of Design. You can see other pieces I painted of the Arroyo Freeway by clicking here and another one here.

Coronado Sunset

2011-11-13T19:42:00.000-08:00

This is "Coronado Sunset" 12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas. I painted it as a color study for a larger commissioned painting I'm working on, depicting a car on the road... I don't think this view would work, however, the sunset would compete with the car. But I still like the painting. I made several trips back and forth across the Coronado Bridge at different times of day, shooting photos. The Hotel Del Coronado can be made out on the left. The high key color palette was an experiment, making for a light and airy feel (the color is hard to see with this photo).

Adams Avenue Liquor

2011-11-02T07:16:00.000-07:00

"Adams Avenue Liquor" 12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas.

I have always been impressed by the Ashcan painters, as well as other artists of their circle and influence. John Sloan, George Bellows, Rockwell Kent, Reginald Marsh, and of course Hopper. From a technical point of view, I especially enjoy the gritty color and vigorous brushwork. Depicting figures in a landscape is an exciting challenge to me, and I'm interested to look at how they pull it off. And they did some great night paintings, nocturnes have always fascinated me. They are a challenge to paint. And there's a mood that a night-time urban scene evokes for me... something nefarious. Psychologically, the shadow persona sometimes emerges after dark.

Take "Escondido Liquor Store" for example (from a previous post). I prefer to keep a painting's interpretation open to the viewer, but the figure at that phone booth is either calling his mom for a ride home, or something else shady is about to go down. In this new painting, "Adams Avenue Liquor", the couple is either out for an evening stroll, or perhaps something more debauched is going to take place as the evening progresses.

Ford Falcon Futura, San Diego Freeway

2011-10-11T13:29:00.000-07:00

This new painting is called "Ford Falcon Futura, San Diego Freeway", 16 x 24 inches, oil on canvas, framed.

J.C. Leyendecker

2011-09-10T01:26:00.000-07:00

I'm selling my J.C. Leyendecker painting through the Heritage Illustration Art Auction in NYC this October... it is 24 x 16 inches, oil on canvas.

Leyendecker was one of the most successful commercial illustrators of his time, best known for his advertisements for the "Arrow Collar Man." He created 321 covers for the Saturday Evening Post, and he was the only artist to paint more Post covers than Norman Rockwell.

This painting is a preliminary study that Leyendecker painted for the March 23, 1940 Saturday Evening Post cover for Easter (below).

William Wendt Sketchbook

2011-07-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

I just got this William Wendt sketchbook full of drawings, color notes, and even poems. I got one of the Wendt drawings earlier and posted it here. The owner of my gallery in La Jolla (K. Nathan Gallery) picked it up at the Moran auction. He has framed up a few of the drawings, then sold me the remainder of the sketchbook. It's an awesome little piece of history. The interior is dated 1909 and is signed by William Wendt in ink. I even matched up a few of the drawings in there with paintings that Wendt executed. I thought it would be a real treat to share, and maybe sell some of the drawings myself. Email me if you're interested... tonypetersart@sbcglobal.net I'm going to continue to post more sketches here over time.

BoldBrush Painting Competition... "Buick Convertible"

2011-05-15T22:22:00.000-07:00

http://faso.com/boldbrush/painting/20012

So far I'm ranked #7 in the May 2011 BoldBrush Painting Competition with my entry, "Buick Convertible, San Diego Freeway" oil on canvas, 16 x 41 inches. If you haven't already, please kindly visit the link above and hit its Facebook "like" button, I would appreciate it :-)

Another magazine article... Southwest Art Magazine May issue

2011-05-07T18:45:00.000-07:00

Southwest Art Magazine picked me for "Best of the West" in the new May issue (page 28). My painting "Dog Walker, Banker's Hill" is pictured.

It's on newsstands now, along with my feature in American Art Collector's May issue as well.

American Art Collector feature article

2011-04-27T11:28:00.000-07:00

I just got the May issue of American Art Collector, where I am featured on pages 126 and 126.

The article features three of my paintings, "The Fall", "Buick Convertible, San Diego Freeway", and "Graffiti Bridge".

It is promoting my upcoming exhibition at K. Nathan Gallery in La Jolla, the show opens on May 14th, 2011.

The Gallery Says... "Tony has joined an elite group of American artists painting impressions of our urban environment. Southern California is an especially fertile ground for harvesting psychological reflections of city life."

- Keith N. Kelman, Owner, K. Nathan Gallery

The Fall

2011-03-17T14:52:00.000-07:00

"The Fall" oil on canvas, 36 x 54 inches. I started this large piece nearly two years ago, and I posted preliminary drawings here. Meanwhile, I've finished several other paintings, while I picked away at this one as a long-term project. When I initially came up with my idea for "The Fall", I wanted to include two figures in a landscape, and I had been looking at a lot of Rennaissance painting.

I actually enjoyed painting all the leaves both on the bush and the ground. The underlying theme of the piece is in part about leaving civilization and going off into nature... somewhat of a departure for me, because I'm mostly known for my urban landscapes. But painting the figure has an organic quality to it, and studying nature has been rewarding to me.

The snake on the ground is supposed to be somewhat hidden from the viewer, as it is un-noticed by the couple in the painting as well.

"Over San Diego" or "Winter's Glow, San Diego"

2011-03-12T16:53:00.000-08:00

This new piece is either called "Winter Glow, San Diego" or "Over San Diego"... 16 x 20 inches, oil on canvas. Which title do you prefer?

The location is just south of downtown San Diego, overlooking the Coronado Bridge in the background. The two models I used, Brandi and Justin, also appear in another painting I just finished. The pattern of leaves behind the figures was enjoyable to paint, and a challenge. I like the mood of the piece, the day was overcast, and the soft lighting worked well.

Suong Yangchareon

2011-03-04T14:23:00.000-08:00

I was up in Pasadena on Wednesday and had lunch with an old friend of mine, Suong Yangchareon. He gave me this invite (pictured above) for his exhibition at Paul Thiebaud Gallery in San Francisco. The reception is next Tuesday, March 8th, from 5 to 7pm. Paul Thiebaud Gallery is located at 645 Chestnut Street, San Francisco, CA 9413. They have a number of fantastic painters in their stable of artists, including Wayne Thiebaud, David Fertig, Celia Reisman, and Eileen David, just to name a few.

I first got to know Suong about 14 years ago when I was working as an assistant at the Mendenhall Gallery in Pasadena, where Suong exhibited his work (and later, I did too). We got to be good friends, and Suong became an early influence upon me (as well as Richard Bunkall) in painting the urban landscape. We would gallivant around Los Angeles shooting photos of old diners, city streets, and panoramic views of LA wherever they could be found. As a wedding gift, Suong gave Holly and I this painting (below) called "San Pedro" 18 x 36 inches, acrylic on canvas...

"San Pedro" by Suong Yangchareon. 18 x 36 inches, acrylic on canvas

Liquor Store Nocturne, Escondido

2011-02-26T16:09:00.000-08:00

"Liquor Store Nocturne, Escondido" 12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas.

I finally have my exhibition date scheduled for May 14th, 2011 at K Nathan Gallery in La Jolla. There will be nearly 30 paintings, the biggest and best show of my career to date. Currently I'm working on an exhibition catalog, and other materials for promotion. I'm exhausted, excited, and eager to see it all come together.

This new piece is called "Liquor Store Nocturne" 12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas. I'm painting a few Liquor Store pieces, I love the old signage, and the feel of a night setting. And more than a few of my figures lately have been on the phone... symbolic of trying to reach out and make a connection, or perhaps escape lonliness or anxiety.

New York Nocturne, Union Square

2011-02-05T17:36:00.000-08:00

This new painting is called "New York Nocturne, Union Square", oil on canvas, 13 x 18 inches. The model is my wife's little sister, Bretony, who came along with us to New York (along with my painting pal, Bill Wray).

This piece started out quite differently, I dismissed my photo reference and painted it from my imagination, and cropped the composition. I removed the umbrella that she was carrying at an earlier stage in the work, and replaced it with the cell phone that's Bretony's constant companion. I like how it turned out, it kinda has a George Tooker feel to it.

Shortly after our New York trip, Bretony moved there... she still hasn't put down her cell phone.

Buick Convertible, San Diego Freeway

2011-01-22T20:04:00.000-08:00

"Buick Convertible, San Diego Freeway", oil on canvas, 16 x 41 inches.

I just finished this piece, along with several others, so I'll be posting each of them here soon.

Dog Walker, Banker's Hill

2011-01-14T00:18:00.000-08:00

I have several new paintings that I have just finished, and I thought I'd share one of them... this is "Dog Walker, Banker's Hill", oil on canvas, 12 x 12 inches.

In anticipation of my solo exhibition at K. Nathan Gallery in La Jolla, I took my works in progress down to the gallery and we set a show date for May 14th, 2011. I'll have twenty paintings in the show, most of which are brand new and have never been exhibited anywhere else. I'll be posting new pictures of the artwork in weeks to come.

Paint-out with Dan Pinkham

2010-11-09T16:58:00.000-08:00

My sketch of Ignat painting "Portuguese Bend".

This last Saturday, the California Art Club had it's first Mentor Member paint out, hosted by Dan Pinkham at his home and studio in Palos Verdes. I stayed at my pal, William Wray's place, and we drove up together. Also in attendance was Ignat Ignatov, Aaron Westerberg, Sergio Sanchez, Stan Prokopenko, Justine Carroll, Leonardo Lambaren, and Ann Lee (who snapped the photos).

I took the opportunity to do a number of sketches while everyone else painted. I posted my favorite sketch above... maybe I'll paint it? Dan Pinkham told us about his method of starting with a sketch, and writing why you want to select a particular view before painting it. It struck a chord in me, the heart of why I paint... to make a connection. What I bring of myself to the painting, and the landscape before me. Dan also made some technical pointers in his demo that will serve as tools to me in my own color mixing.

At Dan's Studio, he showed us boxes and boxes full of his plein-air paintings from the last several decades, all of which he's kept for himself and uses as reference to work up studio paintings. After the paint-out, we we did a critique of everyone's work. Dan then went on to expound brilliantly on painting, and tell colorful stories.

Beyond teaching me some of the mechanics of painting, I felt that Dan, through his example, taught an even greater lesson in humility, and reminded me of the honor in hard work. Nobody wanted to leave at the end of the day, it was totally inspirational. Made me want to get out and work more on location again too!

VIDEO: "Looking In on Tony Peters"

2010-10-29T23:21:00.000-07:00

Looking In On Tony Peters from Holly Peters on Vimeo.

An introduction to the artist Tony Peters and his paintings.

William Wendt Sketches

2010-10-12T17:18:00.000-07:00

William Wendt Sketch "Girl Under a Tree"

William Wendt Sketch "Haystacks"

William Wendt's painting "Haystack" 16 x 20 inches, oil on canvas.

Keith at my gallery in La Jolla (K. Nathan Gallery) just picked up William Wendt's sketchbook at auction, the sketches in it were done somewhere around 1910. He has taken the drawings out and had them each beautifully framed for display. Keith was generous enough to give me a great deal, and I had the pleasure of being able to add this particular double-sided sketch to my personal collection (above).

I really loved the drawing of the girl sitting under a tree in the shade, especially since I have been focusing so much on the figure lately, plus I admire William Wendt's work so much anyway. It appeared to be the only figure in the entire sketchbook. On the reverse was this drawing of a haystack. I was excited to discover this corresponding image to go with it. The sketch appears to be the preliminary drawing for Wendt's painting, "Haystack".

Television

2010-09-26T15:19:00.000-07:00

This is a little 8 x 10 painting, oil on canvas, called "Television". Some of the other paintings I'm working on right now are fairly large, so it's gratifying to execute something quickly for a change.

My wife's little sister, Cortney, posed for this in her parents' living room. I like the color harmony of the image, and it's mood.

"Freeway Exit"

2010-09-19T02:33:00.000-07:00

I wanted to either call this new painting "Houses by a Freeway" or "Freeway Exit", it's 15 x 30 inches, oil on canvas. This one involved a lot of imagination, I made up much of the landscape. But it's based on my travels through Detroit.

I laid down some fairly thick impasto on this piece, scraping the paint around with my palette knife, and smearing color around with a rag. I love the surface of this piece in particular, the manipulation of light, and the quiet color. I enjoyed playing with the composition and design too, with the houses on the right, and the lone solitary figure on the bridge to the left. Together, all these things hit on the overall mood I was going for.

Graffiti Bridge

2010-09-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

This is "Graffiti Bridge", oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inches. With this piece, I invented these young characters making art on the walls of the bridge, like modern hyroglifics. I have wanted to include graffiti in one of my paintings for a long time, since so many of the places that I paint are often old, and usually have graffiti on them anyway. But it then becomes an important part of the image. So my graffiti tells a story.

Waiting

2010-09-04T11:51:00.000-07:00

"Waiting" oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inches. This is a continuation on my theme from a previous painting, called "Looking Outward". It's inspiration comes from a quote by the famous psychologist and author, Carl Jung... "Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens."

In this piece, I used a turn of the century building as my location, a female model, and more of a focus on the light hitting the building's exterior. "Waiting" is available through K. Nathan Gallery in La Jolla.

Girl Reading, Pacific Beach

2010-06-12T16:40:00.000-07:00

"Girl Reading, Pacific Beach" 24 x 26 inches, oil on canvas

A while back, I posted my preliminary drawing for this painting. It's finally finished. The process involved a new method I'm using to help me include the figure within my new works.

But before I get into how I did the painting, let's talk about the why. Every painting of mine includes personal meaning, but I hope that the image resonates with the viewer in an archetypal way. I feel the purpose of my work is to depict my own story, but it's not necessarily important to understand in order to enjoy the work. When I was still a teenager, 18 years old, I moved out of my parent's house and lived close to this particular neighborhood in Pacific Beach. I spent most of my time in study, although I lived in the midst of a party town, and I somehow managed to stay out of trouble... honest! So this painting depicts the kind of ideal fantasy girl that I never met there at the time, a good girl engrossed in her studies.

As for how I did this painting, I was initially inspired when I was visiting the New York Public Library and viewed their WPA era murals... I wanted to do my own library painting. At first, my idea was to depict a girl sitting and reading under a tree, but as I went out in search of the perfect tree to use for my painting, I found this beautiful repetative long line of palms in the old Pacific Beach neighborhood. In this particular view, I liked how the long fence complemented those palms, as well as the long pose of the reclining figure I had in mind. These three elements somehow divided the piece into thirds. Then, I worked up a kind of classical composition creating a big triangle or pyramid as the overall center of the piece... do you see it?

As I transferred my drawing to canvas and began the painting, my friend, Aron Wiesenfeld, pointed out that the palms lining the background were a little too monotonous. I changed them in this final painting, so it does differ from my preliminary drawing.

Speaking of my pal Aron Wiesenfeld, I just got back from his opening exhibition at the Bakersfield Museum of Art... http://www.aronwiesenfeld.com/home.html

GIRL ON BRIDGE

2010-06-05T19:35:00.000-07:00

"Girl on Bridge", 24 x 24 inches, oil on canvas.

I have been trying a different approach to my working methods. My next scheduled exhibition with K. Nathan Gallery will be late in the year, and I've been working on 10 pieces all at once. Every painting will include the figure. "Girl on Bridge" is the first one that I have finished.

Last year, I was out with two of my private students sketching on location by the beach close to Del Mar, and we found ourselves seeking shade from the sun under North Torrey Pines Bridge. I drew the old bridge there in my sketchbook from this angle. Later at the studio, in thinking how I might incorporate a figure, I doodled a girl sitting there on the bridge. I liked the graphic quality of the sketch. And I felt that the figure gave the image some tension. The more I thought about it, I felt that the underbelly of that bridge expressed a degree of psychological symbolism... the shadows of the unconscious under this massive structure.

"Coopriders, Looking In"

2009-12-17T15:38:00.001-08:00

I have been invited to do a portrait commission for Patti and Coop Cooprider that will be part of an exhibition called "Movers and Shakers": Who's Who in the San Diego Visual Arts World.

The reception will be on Thursday Jan 21 from 6:30 to 8:30, and is organized by the San Diego Visual Arts Network. The exhibition will take place at Art Expressions Gallery: 2645 Financial Court, Suite C, San Diego, 92117

I have spent all of my efforts lately on finishing this piece in time for deadline, it has been nearly two months of continuous work. "Coopriders, Looking In" is a large 36 x 48 inches, oil on canvas. The Coopriders liked my self-portrait, "Looking Inward", and thought it would be interesting to use a similar theme for this portrait of them. We decided to use a gallery space as the setting stage, since collecting art is one of their favorite things.

Patti and Coop are very interesting folks, my wife Holly and I have enjoyed getting to know them in the process of this project. They are heavily involved in the San Diego art scene, and serve on the board of directors of numerous arts organizations. They are collectors of art as well as "doers," Patti also enjoys making art herself. From the work of a little known Italian artist, Diego, to the works of Chagall, Lipschitz, Miro, Picasso, Leger, and Calder among many others, Patti and her husband not only collect the works of great artists, but they live cozily with their pieces in their home to inspire them on a daily basis. For the past several years, Patti and her husband have focused on supporting San Diego artists, occasionally selling some of the work by European artists in order to purchase the work of artists in their own back yard.

I'm in a new book, "100 Artists of the West Coast II"

2009-11-23T16:06:00.000-08:00

I finally got my copy of this new book I'm in, 100 Artists of the West Coast II by Tina Skinner
You can purchase your copy on Amazon through this link.

My artwork is profiled in the book, including my painting "Looking Forward" 16 x 20 inches, oil on canvas (pictured above). This piece is depicted inside the book, as well as on the back cover of the dust jacket.

In the back of the book, all of the artists are pictured along with their web links. My self-portrait "Looking Inward", 36 x 48 inches, oil on canvas, is pictured there (but quite small) so I'm re-posting it here. This painting won the 2009 Urban Landscape Award at the California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition located at the Pasadena Museum of California Art...

Among other images included in the book is my painting, "The Los Angeles Sky", 20 x 20 inches, oil on canvas...

I feel fortunate to be accompanied in this publication along with a couple of old friends from my days at the Mendenhall Gallery. This piece is called "Vesper" oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches, by William Glen Crooks. Glen is another fellow San Diego painter, and was an early inspiration to my young career through his friendship. His sense of light is unmatched...

Glenn Ness (another old friend and former Mendenhall Gallery artist) is in the book. I used to exhibit with him at Sue Greenwood Fine Art as well. Glenn and I share a fascination for the urban landscape, plus an appreciation for the paintings of John Register. This piece is called "After the Lie", 12 x 18 inches, oil on canvas...

Torrey Pines Nocturne, PCH

2009-10-26T16:15:00.000-07:00

"Torrey Pines Nocturne, PCH", 12” x 16” oil on canvas. I donated this new painting to an auction benefiting the San Diego Coast Keepers... http://oceangala.org/oceangala/auctions.html

The San Diego Coastkeeper protects the region's bays, beaches, watersheds, and ocean for the people and wildlife that depend on them. For the second straight year, the Ocean Gala will feature its signature Going Green Live Auction featuring eco-friendly items and outdoor experiences. The Going Green Live Auction will be conducted by professional auctioneers Charles Dreyer and Bill Menish, who have combined to raise tens of millions of dollars for local and national charities.

"Rail Bridge Over the 101 Freeway" and the RAY TURNER exhibition at the Pasadena Museum of California Art

2009-10-18T23:36:00.000-07:00

I have been drawn to painting bridges for over a dozen years, all throughout my career as an artist, even before I went to Art Center. This new piece is called "Rail Bridge Over the 101 Freeway", oil on canvas, 16 x 20 inches. And I think it's one of my favorites. The actual bridge can be seen while driving up the 101 freeway, between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. I was actually on my way up to visit my new San Luis Obispo gallery during the Labor Day weekend when I was inspired to do this particular piece. I'm now exhibiting work at the Just Looking Gallery on Higuera Street, be sure to check it out if you're in the area... http://www.justlookinggallery.com/

When I was a student at Art Center, as you may know, I was also working at the Mendenhall Gallery in Pasadena. I got to work closely with some great painters who exhibited there, like Richard Bunkall, Sally Storch, R. Kenton Nelson, Raimonds Staprans, Mark Ryden, and many others. I moonlighted as a studio assistant to some of the artists, including Ray Turner, who is having a show right now at the Pasadena Museum of California Art. Be sure to check it out before it closes on January 31, 2010. There is also an impressive Wayne Thiebaud show in the main gallery... http://www.pmcaonline.org/exhibits/_main/index.html

When I worked with Ray, I was fortunate enough to collect some of his original works. Since the current exhibition at the Pasadena Museum includes his portraits, I thought I'd share just a few of those originals that I have (above and below).

Ray Turner's new book that accompanies the exhibition includes a section dedicated to a handful of portraits he did of his friend "Joe". Ray used to paint Joe every day until Joe passed away. The above painting is one such piece from my collection, a small 4 x 5.5 inches.

This piece above is part of his series of portraits of horses and jockeys, done in the 1990's.

Ray is renowned for his monumental landscapes. Here's a Turner landscape hanging over the couch in my living room, I love the industrial image. Nobody can paint a sky like Ray Turner, they are incredible, smokey, hazy, moody... http://www.rayturnerart.com/

Liquor Store Nocturne, El Cajon Blvd.

2009-10-12T16:04:00.000-07:00

"Liquor Store Nocturne, El Cajon Blvd." 18 x 18 inches, oil on canvas. This piece, as well as my other new figurative works, are available through K. Nathan Gallery in La Jolla. They have a wonderful selection of early California artists including Franz Bischoff, Edgar Payne, Alfred Mitchell, Maurice Braun, William Wendt, and all the other big names. I feel privileged to be exhibiting in such good company. In addition to these early California artists, K. Nathan handles the works of a select few living contemporary California painters such as myself, Robert Watts, Brian Blood, and Laurie Kersey... http://www.knathangallery.com/index.html My work will be on their website soon, and we're planning an exhibition for the spring of 2010.

This old Liquor Store on El Cajon Boulevard has been a spot that I have long admired for a potential painting, so I have visited it a few times to get the perfect lighting I wanted for the painting. Early one evening when I stopped by, I found this gentleman stepping outside for a smoke.

LONDON HOTEL ROOM and California Art Club Newsletter article: An Interview With Tony Peters on Edward Hopper

2009-10-04T23:06:00.000-07:00

This new painting is called "London Hotel Room", 11 x 16 inches, oil on canvas. A couple of years ago, my wife Holly and I went to Europe, I did this painting from a snapshot taken of her in our room... we were jet-lagged on the first morning and woke up a little too early, plus we were excited to see the National Gallery.

This is the first time that I've included Holly in one of my paintings (although I have tried to paint her before). She's a nervous model, so I had to catch her by surprise when I snapped the pic.

Also, I have an article in the California Art Club's newsletter for summer, 2009. It's called ... "The Artist As Critic, Art That Inspires" and it's titled "An Interview With Tony Peters on Edward Hopper". Written by Miriam Noske, I'm really proud of how it turned out. It is an articulate dialogue about my award winning self-portrait "Looking Inward", comparing it to an Edward Hopper painting called "Office In a Small City". You can read all three pages on my website... http://www.tonypetersart.com/enlarge/ca/1/

GIRL ON BIKE, PACIFIC BEACH

2009-09-29T15:12:00.001-07:00

In my continued effort to include figures in several of my new paintings, this is "Girl On Bike, Pacific Beach", 18 x 20.5 inches, oil on canvas. I used to live in Pacific Beach when I was a teenager, before I left for Art Center. To this day, I don't know how I managed to live there and yet stay out of trouble (PB is quite the party town). I always liked the old houses around there, so I thought I'd use it as a location for this idea I've had for a painting of a girl on a bike. She's talking on her cell phone, headed to the beach.

Viaduct Bridge

2009-09-10T11:20:00.000-07:00

"Viaduct Bridge", 18 x 18 inches, oil on canvas. This is another spot along the LA River, when I started this painting, I considered adding all of the graffiti that was on the bridge... it had quite a bit. But I liked it better in this "cleaned up" version.

Drawing of a Girl Reading

2009-08-27T15:46:00.000-07:00

This is my new drawing, "Girl Reading" 22 x 26 inches, pencil on white Strathmore paper. The photo of my drawing turned out a little bluish. *sorry* This is a preliminary study for a seperate painting I have started. As I began collecting reference around town for my own "library painting", I decided to go with the repetative pattern of the palm trees and the fence in the background. The neighborhood houses in the background are in Pacific Beach, an area here in San Diego where I used to live before I moved to Pasadena for school. Currently I'm doing a handful of summer paintings that take place in beach neighborhoods, if you scroll down a few posts, you'll see my painting of "Blue House in Encinitas". And I'll post my other new beach neighborhood paintings as I finish them too.

I was initially inspired to do my "library painting" when I saw some old WPA murals at the New York Public Library. They were painted in the late 1930's by Edward Laning (pics below).

The walls in the McGraw Rotunda of the New York Public Library are decorated with large paintings depicting the evolution of the printed word. In particular, I liked these two different paintings of people sitting under a tree and reading a book. And I do love to read myself.

Ralph Hulett

2009-08-19T20:23:00.001-07:00

Ever since I was a teenager, my dad has had a carpet cleaning franchise in San Diego. I worked nearly every weekend with him from the time I was 14 years old, and sometimes I would get to see some interesting homes when doing the carpets. One such occasion, we were doing some work for a lady whose downstairs had flooded from a plumbing accident... she had the most wonderful collection of California watercolors. We rescued her paintings from any damage, and repaired her downstairs flood. My dad and I obtained a few paintings in exchange for some of the work we did there, Dad got a Whitaker and a nice painting of the San Diego Mission. I got to keep this particular Ralph Hulett watercolor pictured above. It's signed in the lower left corner, but no other information can be seen without removing the frame to examine the backing. I just call my Hulett watercolor "Desert Scene With Camels and Figures", 22 x 30 inches.

Several years passed and as you know, I went on to become an artist myself. Recently, I was flipping through the June 2009 issue of American Art Review with Eric Merrill and saw this amazing freeway painting (pictured above). I said to Eric, "Look at this painting, it's unbelievable! And I've never even heard of the guy!" Then I looked at the caption, it's called "Under the Overpass" 20 x 30 inches, oil on canvas, and was paintied by Ralph Hulett... the painting was to be on exhibit at the California Heritage Museum in Santa Monica until August 23, 2009 (yes, it closes this weekend). The exhibition is titled "California Regionalism, Oils on Canvas"... http://web.mac.com/calmuseum/iWeb/Site/Home.html

It took me a little bit to realize that the freeway (executed in thick oil) was painted by the same guy who executed my desert scene in watercolor. When I connected the dots, I made sure to check out the show. It was curated by Gordon McClelland and the show was quite impressive.

Before I even got to see the show, I started doing some research on Ralph Hulett. Turns out that he had been a student at Chouinard, the school that later ended up being dispursed to other LA area art schools like Art Center (where I went to college). He studied there under Millard Sheets and Phil Dike. Then in 1937, he became a background painter and animator at Walt Disney Studios, working on several films including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Alice in Wonderland, and others.

Living in Los Angeles, he painted personal work with the same subject matter that I have found to be interesting in my own work... freeways, city streets, downtown LA, old neighborhoods, etc. Here's Hulett at his easel (pictured above). I find his technique to be quite exciting, his oil method used a lot of slashing palette knife action, lost and found edges, and thick buttery paint. His work has a genuine mid-century modern feel to it. This painting below is of an old house on Bunker Hill, an area of downtown LA that is now covered in high-rise office buildings...

Ralph Hulett's watercolor method is also quite impressive. I find his color choices to be quite pleasing. The watercolors always have a strong design and personal touch to them, they don't look like anybody else could have painted them. Hulett certainly maintained his own voice within his work.

This watercolor pictured above is called "The Open Gate", 22 x 30 inches. Courtesy of the Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery... http://www.bbhgallery.com/Hulett_Ralph.htm

Elysian Park View

2009-08-12T20:46:00.000-07:00

"Elysian Park View" oil on canvas, 10 x 12 inches. I don't do allot of paintings this small, except for my plein-air work, but I thought I'd change my routine in the studio a bit for the summer. I put allot of heavy paint in areas of this little piece and did some all over glazing to harmonize the color. I really like how it turned out.

Elysian Park is both a park and an adjacent neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles. It encompasses Chavez Ravine where Dodger Stadium is located, and is mostly a hillside community that is also home to the Los Angeles Police Academy. The park itself is the second largest park in Los Angeles at 600 acres. It is also the city's oldest park, founded in 1886. I actually found an Emil Kosa Jr. watercolor image with this similar view to my piece, but painted back in the 1940's.

I have been up to this spot in Elysian Park to paint on location a few times, usually with a painting-pal. There's some strange folks hanging out around there... one time Bill Wray and I were up there painting, when a middle-aged latino gentleman wearing a mini-skirt and a tube-top shouted from accross the street to us, "Hey boys, you want to have some funnn?" Bill replied, "No thanks, that's not the kind of fun we're looking for, but that's a cute outfit you've got there!"

Blue House in Encinitas

2009-07-29T17:59:00.000-07:00

This is "Blue House in Encinitas" 32 x 22 inches, oil on canvas. Encinitas is a coastal town that includes Leucadia and Cardiff-by-the-Sea in North County, San Diego. I've been driving the coast lately, covering Southern California all along the Pacific Coast Highway 1. I really liked this old house with a VW bus parked out front and the ocean off on the horizon. The place made me imagine that a beach philosipher might live there, or a surfing guru.

Arroyo Freeway Exit

2009-07-13T19:36:00.000-07:00

"Arroyo Freeway Exit" is 12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas. I've painted another bridge on the 110 freeway before, the freeway itself is an historic engineering landmark between downtown LA and Pasadena. Constructed between 1938 and 1940, the parkway was designed for people to slowly drive along at 35mph and take in the view, considered to be leisurely and scenic. The old bridges on this stretch of road are amazing, I first saw them as I headed up to Pasadena to start college at the Art Center, they forever remained etched in my memory. This particular exit (31A) is for Orange Grove Avenue, early on a Sunday morning, a rare occasion without allot of other cars.

PCH at Torrey Pines

2009-06-09T22:54:00.000-07:00

"PCH at Torrey Pines" is 30 x 40 inches, oil on canvas. I particularly enjoy the idea of viewing the landscape as seen from a car, it feels like more of a contemporary take on an otherwise classic tradition of california painting. Like a drive to the beach after a long day at work, the golden hour. This one of my favorite San Diego spots, it's where Carmel Valley Road connects to the Pacific Coast Highway in Del Mar, Torrey Pines State Beach is to the left over the old bridge in the background (for some reason, the water in the background seems more yellow in this picture than it actually is in the painting). I really liked this view with the palm and that old house, I've painted it on location before. Because there's allot of atmosphere looking toward the bright sunset sky, depicting the color of everything in shadows was tricky.

Preliminary drawings for "FALL"

2009-05-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

(Perliminary drawing for "Fall", pencil on strathmore paper, 20 x 30 inches)

I have grappled with the challenge of adding figures to my work for years, and only recently have I begun to do figurative work that I'm satisfied with at the level of my landscapes. The more I keep working at it, the more I admire artists that do it well... Norman Rockwell and N.C. Wyeth are just a couple of examples. Then add to the list Edward Hopper, Rockwell Kent, Grant Wood, Andrew Wyeth, and more. And as I have begun to overcome some challenges of mine with the figure set in a landscape or interior, I have found that one of the most important foundations is in my drawing.

(Snake and leaves detail, from drawing for "Fall") So rather than jumping right onto canvas, I now do fairly resolved pencil drawings seperately on paper first. I have done preliminary sketches of heads, hands, and figures in my sketchbook. Then I move on to a large sheet of paper where all of my mistakes are made, erased, and fixed, until the drawing is to my satisfaction (these are the drawings you see posted here). Then I enlarge that drawing onto canvas. This way I don't have to fight the drawing so much when I approach the painting... I can focus more on color, brushwork, and painting technique. But I still make subtle changes and corrections with the drawing on the canvas as I go.

N.C. Wyeth, in his confidence, didn't seem to have much need for resolved preliminary drawings on paper. However, Rockwell executed one for nearly every painting he did, and they were nearly full-scale to the paintings. Artists have varying methods... to each his own. They're both awesome.

("Brandi" pencil drawing on strathmore paper, 14 x 28 inches.)

My finished painting of "Fall" will be a large 36 x 54 inches, oil on canvas (work in progress). It's one of the more complex and detailed paintings I've ever attempted... it includes two full figures, a big bush with more leaves than I'd ever want to count, the ground is covered with grass and leaves, and a neighborhood full of houses in the background. I'll talk more about some of the underlying meaning of the piece when I post the finished painting... but don't hold your breath, this piece will take me a while to finish!

Urban Landscape Award

2009-05-08T14:56:00.001-07:00

As mentioned in my previous post, I attended the California Art Club's 98th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition at the Pasadena Museum of California Art. It was a very exciting evening, I got to see allot of old friends and meet some new ones. There was a bunch of great artwork in the show, and I feel very honored that my painting, "Looking Inward", won the award for Urban Landscape, sponsored by Art Ltd. Magazine.

That's Christopher Slatoff (left), myself, Peter Adams (CAC President), and David Gallup

"South Rock, Laguna" 10 x 12 inches, oil on canvas.
In contrast from my urban landscape work, and to keep the blog updated with new paintings, this is "South Rock, Laguna", 10 x 12 inches, oil on canvas. I executed it on location with my painting pal Bill Wray a while back, then finished it in the studio. I've got a handful of plein-air pieces that I'll post here in the future.

Pictured below is "Above Torrey Pines Beach", oil on board, approximately 20 x 28 inches. This is one of my favorite areas here in San Diego, I enjoy hiking along the trails at Torrey Pines State Reserve, and do a little bit of plein-air painting there when I get a chance. It's a departure from my typical studio work, but I enjoy getting out and soaking in the sun when I can. It's only a ten minute drive from my house, and a big reason why I moved to SD. Doing plein-air painting helps me keep an eye for color and forces me to work faster... and as a studio painter, I often feel cooped up, it's nice to get outside.

SOUTHWEST ART MAGAZINE and the AMERICAN ART COLLECTOR, April 2009 issues, CAC Gold Medal Exhibition

2009-03-28T14:16:00.000-07:00

The new April issue of AMERICAN ART COLLECTOR features an article about the California Art Club's 98th Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition and includes an image of my self-portrait, "Looking Inward" on page 82 with a little write-up about my art.

Also, SOUTHWEST ART MAGAZINE picked me for "Best of the West" in their April issue. There is a full page image of "Looking Inward" on page 30 along with a write up for the CAC Gold Medal Exhibition titled, "The Gold Standard".

These magazines will be on newsstands this week.

I'm excited about going to the Pasadena Museum of California Art for the CAC show, "Looking Inward" oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches, will be included in the exhibition. The dates for it are April 26 through May 17. It is one of the most prestegious and collector-friendly art events in Southern California. Here's a link... http://www.californiaartclub.org/resources/gm.shtml

I also have a half page ad in the April issue of AMERICAN ART COLLECTOR with my painting, "Looking Outward" on page 79.

"Looking Outward" oil on canvas, 32 x 48 inches

Looking Forward

2009-03-16T14:28:00.000-07:00

With my newest paintings, as I have mentioned in previous posts, I am working on a series of figures. This one is "Looking Forward", a smaller oil on canvas, 16 x 20 inches. My goal was to place a prominent figure in a landscape that felt like one of my own paintings, and to do it in the most interesting way I could think of. There is a kind of mood with this figure and it's placement that I was going for, the piece acts as somewhat of a portrait, but with a feeling of anticipation for things to come. In my mind, she wants to move on from this place in order to grow, to start the hero's journey as in mythology. The model is 19 years old, and I remember myself at that age, my greatest desire was to leave the familiarity of home to explore the possibilities that awaited me. Hence the title.

For the painting's execution, I started with a quick sketch of the figure. I had taken my model (Michelle) to a neighborhood around Banker's Hill and Hillcrest in San Diego for a photo shoot. The light was particularly bright that day, with the sun scorching down on us. As I worked up my sketches later, I manipulated the figure drawing around in photoshop with the landscape sketch. I labored the precise compositional placement I wanted, with the figure at the end of the driveway, then enlarged my drawing to canvas. The whole underpainting was laid in with raw umber on a gray gessoed canvas, then I painted the figure. I even lit a plaster cast of a Roman sculpture to paint from, just to get the light on the head just right. I wanted a crispness with the form, a sense of reality, but slightly stylized in the manner of my sketch. The color harmony worked out well with the landscape behind her, there is a sense of a slightly hazy atmosphere going back into the distant hills, and the house at the end of the driveway is in sharp contrast. There is allot of foliage behind her, and I tried to treat it with the stylization of my own. I love the way the Renaissance painters would paint trees and foliage, or the manner in which more recent painters like Grant Wood treated plant life, I want to play around more with these kind of natural and organic forms in subsequent paintings. Over the years, I have painted many architectural forms. Including the figure forces me to add not just an organic and more naturalistic element to my work, but a more psychological element as well.

The Los Angeles Sky 2

2009-03-07T12:15:00.000-08:00

This new painting is "The Los Angeles Sky 2", oil on canvas, 20 x 20 inches. It's based on another piece that I did a couple of years ago on a larger scale. The landscape is set in an area just east of downtown by the L.A. River, just after the rain. Los Angeles City Hall is the building on the left side of the skyline. Paintings by Maynard Dixon and N.C. Wyeth inspired the stylization of the big cloudy sky. I enjoy the juxtaposition of the geometric city buildings below with the organic sky above in this piece.

I had originally started this canvas with a prominent portrait painted in the foreground, and intended to use the landscape of the bridge and downtown buildings as the "mise-en scene". Although I liked the idea very much, as the figure developed, I felt that it was too tight and photographic. I like to let a piece mature organically with a life of it's own, and although I use photos as reference for work at times, I hate for an image to appear mechanical and without a soul. So as the piece evolved, the clouds covered the portrait. I love how the finished product turned out here, although it covers up a failed attempt at another idea.

This failed attempt, however, proved to be an important step in several of my new figurative works. The current paintings I'm working on now all include figures, it's a whole new level of executing a painting. It involves allot more planning, working with models, preliminary drawings, compositional sketches, and technical challenges with paint. Entire days and weeks before even getting to canvas. Getting a harmony of flesh tones with the landscape can actually be a daunting task, I feel like it's the ultimate challenge to a painter to place a well painted figure in a space that's interesting and relates well to the setting.

Arroyo Seco Freeway

2009-01-27T14:51:00.000-08:00

"Arroyo Seco Freeway" is an historic engineering landmark (the CA110) between downtown LA and Pasadena. Constructed between 1938 and 1940, the parkway was designed for people to slowly drive along at 35mph and take in the view, considered to be leisurely and scenic. The old bridges on this stretch of road are amazing, I first saw them as I headed up to Pasadena to start college at the Art Center, they forever remained etched in my memory. I particularly like the morning light that was captured in this piece, along with the long blue shadows stretched across the foreground. "Arroyo Seco Freeway" is 18 x 24 inches, oil on canvas.

Four LA River Trains

2009-01-16T15:36:00.000-08:00

"Four L.A. River Trains" is 18 x 24 inches, oil on canvas. This area of Los Angeles, just east of downtown, is a world of continuous inspiration for my work. I made an effort to keep the color quiet in this piece, using a limited palette. The foreground trains are rich in darker/warmer contrast to the milky haze of the atmosphere in the receding cooler background. I like the way that those trains are all converging together at this point to make it under the bridge, those tracks they follow help make for a rather interesting composition.

Picnic Tables

2009-01-14T16:17:00.000-08:00

This is "Michelle and Rocky", 16 x 20 inches, oil on canvas. I've been experimenting more with adding new meaning to my work, I want to be more diverse in my story telling abilities. After my trip to the Louvre in 2006, I felt a deeper need to paint the figure, so I've worked with a few models since then. This picnic table is in a park close to where I live, and I'd often wanted to paint it.

This is a smaller painting that I started on location, or "plein-air". It's called "Picnic For Crows", 12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas. My painting on location started with the picnic table on the sand, I set up my easel at a beach in Encinitas and got a good start on it. Later in the studio, I added the crows eating my picnic... the image reminded me of a couple of crotchety old art dealers I used to know in Pasadena.

Wreckage

2008-11-11T15:29:00.000-08:00

A while back, I purchased a WWII era model airplane, a Lockheed P-38 Lightning. I've been out to airfields before and worked up paintings from what I saw, but I wanted to experiment and do something different, taking it to the next level. So I took my model airplane and put it in a beach setting for a more imaginative interpretation. I added the small figure sitting under the propeller to give the aircraft a sense of scale and add to the peaceful mood of the sunset over the horizon. And the quiet color harmony of the piece adds to that as well. Often, I've admired old paintings of shipwrecks, and this is my own modern take on the old subject (but obviously with a plane). It's called "Wreckage" 18 x 24 inches, oil on canvas.

San Pedro Rail Bridge

2008-11-01T11:04:00.000-07:00

This is "San Pedro Rail Bridge", another large new painting, 36 x 48 inches, oil on canvas. There's alot of thick impasto on there, as well as thin washy areas in the shadows. I troweled down some thick paint on the areas of the concrete bridge supports, I really like the effect. And I'm especially pleased about how the palette and overall color harmony of the painting turned out, sometimes less is more. The simple, yet bold graphic effect of the composition really worked on the large scale of the piece, it makes for a looming and weighty feel over the viewer's vantage point.

Looking Inward

2008-09-22T11:10:00.000-07:00

"Looking Inward" is a large 36 x 48 inches, oil on canvas. It took months to finish. My inspiration for this piece is from something Carl Jung once said, "Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens." And a quote from Gary Parent, "To see your Dream you must stop looking outward at everyone else's Dream, and look inward to see and discover your own Dream."

This painting, "Looking Inward", as well as the post below of "Looking Outward" feel like the culmination of my efforts as an artist to this point in my life. My points of view, looking inward for thoughts and feelings, looking out at the world in longing and awe. Seeing potential. Both paintings include my favorite subject, architecture, and both make use of the figure.

The figure in this piece, "Looking Inward" is an obvious self-portrait. I started with a little sketch of this diner interior, it's "Cindy's" in Eagle Rock, close to where I used to live in Pasadena. But I wanted to include a figure in an interesting way, so I challenged myself to sketch one in the scene. After I doodled the guy outside, looking into the brilliantly lit diner through the window, I felt it had a symbolic dream like quality, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to do a self portrait. Lately, I have been developing an interest in psychology, read allot on dreams, the writings of Carl Jung, as well as Victor Frankel's "Man's Search For Meaning". And I believe that the greatest thing an artwork can do is to develop and carry some personal meaning for my life, and pass some on to the viewer, to discover significant meaning in his or her own life as well.

Looking Outward

2008-09-12T02:52:00.000-07:00

This is a large painting, 32 x 48 inches, and probably one of my favorites I've painted yet. I'm calling it "Looking Outward". One of two large new paintings of mine, both inspired by a quote by the famous psychologist and author, Carl Jung... "Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens."

The setting is a building facade in downtown Los Angeles. When I first saw it, I imagined that it might be the old Chouinard art school's building on 3rd Street, the school that eventually became Art Center where I attended college. But this was just an assumption due to the bas-relief sculpture and decorative elements seen on the beautiful old building, on closer examination they're obviously symbolic representations of history, education, and the arts.

I found it to be an ironic scene that this beautiful old building, appearing to have once been erected to somehow glorify the arts, was now a textile manufacturing plant in the garment district... some people might refer to it as a "sweat shop". The worker looking out the window is a kind of psychological self portrait. As I worked on the piece, it became evident that the image was full of alot of personal meaning to me, this will be one of those paintings that I'll especially hate to part with.

City Train

2008-07-16T13:40:00.000-07:00

Another painting that I did a while ago, but recently re-worked. "City Train" is 24 x 36 inches, oil on canvas. I piled alot more paint onto this one, threw a shadow across the foreground to add a level of depth, cleaned up the bridge, and edited out a few other things. Made the cityscape in the background a little more smokey, I always love an atmospheric haze in the air of a painting. The scene reminded me of one of Monet's paintings at the D'Orsay in Paris.

Stockton Trains South and North

2008-06-06T04:35:00.000-07:00

This painting is called "Stockton Trains South", it's oil on masonite, 16 x 24 inches. I intended to do these pieces as a pair, this one is with a cooler and more tonal palette. I loved how the concrete was so beat up and crumbling, and how it pulls the viewer into the painting. And the subtle mud puddles reflecting the telephone pole and railroad crossing sign.

This accompanying piece is called "Stockton Trains North", oil on masonite, 16 x 24 inches. Painting on masonite is a different challenge from painting on canvas, the surface is much more slick and makes for great transparency in the paint. I'll definitely try it again. I had fun with the warmer color in this one, had to do lots of glazing, and I did have to paint that sky three times to get it just right. But the clouds do add to the underlying zig-zag composition of the overall piece.

Chavez Ravine

2008-05-27T23:06:00.000-07:00

This is my newest painting "Chavez Ravine", 18 x 18 inches, oil on canvas. The location is close to Dodger Stadium, that's downtown LA in the background. I painted on location here with my pal William Wray a couple of years ago, I used my plein-air study as color reference for this more finished studio piece. I was going for a more impressionistic palette with subtle color and a hazy atmospheric feel. As I worked, it helped me to keep in mind... warm foreground receding to a cooler background.

Recently I acquired a couple of drawings by Sam Hyde Harris. I was inspired by some paintings he did back in the 1930's and 40's, some of which were done around Chavez Ravine. One such piece is reproduced in a book I have, called "Plein-Air Painters of California, the Southland" by Ruth Westphal.

Thundering Trains

2008-05-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

This started with an older canvas that I painted a couple of years ago. I liked it, but I felt that I could do more to take it further, so I recently re-worked it. The whole harmony is different now, it has much softer and more subdued color than before. And I edited out alot of elements that were there, like a telephone pole and some foreground train tracks. The size is 24 x 24 inches, oil on canvas, and I changed the title to "Thundering Trains". I think that my second attempt here with the painting is much more successful, I love it.

Day's End

2008-04-27T23:07:00.000-07:00

"Day's End" is 22 x 22 inches, oil on canvas. The view is in Pasadena, looking west on Walnut, very close to my old studio. When I started this piece, I did a little sketch with a cloudy sky. But as the painting progressed, I couldn't bring myself to change the effect that I got with the simplicity that you see here, the large mass of yellow, fading up into the darkening evening sky. It's in stark contrast from the bluish dark foreground. The view made me think of my drive home in my Art Center College days.

This painting is at the Timmons Gallery in Rancho Santa Fe, along with a handful of other pieces I recently brought down there.

PALMS ON WILSHIRE and Chinese Kitchen

2008-01-18T23:17:00.000-08:00

This is "Palms on Wilshire" oil on canvas, 24 x 36 inches. I barely finished it in time for my show, I'm actually bringing it to the gallery with me for opening night.

This is "Chinese Kitchen", it is 22 x 28 inches, oil on canvas. I've been putting the figure into alot of my new works, as will be seen in the future.

New Paintings

2007-12-18T12:51:00.000-08:00

"Grounded" is the name of this new painting. It is 19 x 19 inches, oil on canvas. I've been very interested in painting big cloudy skies again, rain seems like a novelty in Southern California, so I've been running around with my camera looking for interesting light and cloud formations. This particular view is out at Montgomery Field here in San Diego. It has a flight school with a number of smaller aircraft. I was excited when they allowed me to have the run of the place, it was an inspired moment. I've often thought of painting an airplane on the ground. Thinking of it as a metaphor of my career, waiting to take to the air.

This is "The Mark Twain Hotel", 18 x 24 inches, oil on canvas. It's an old Hollywood haunt, located between Sunset and Hollywood Boulevard. I imagined that upon their arrival to LA, an army of optimistic would-be actors, writers, and other artists would have stayed at this place over the decades. All in hopes of making the big time, working in the industry.

And finally, this is a piece that I recently re-worked. It's called "Morning in Pasadena", 16 x 20 inches, oil on canvas. It's in a neighborhood in Pasadena that's by the Arroyo, just off of Orange Grove Avenue. I liked those high hedges protecting the back yard of the house and the harmony of morning light in a neighborhood where Greene and Greene would have worked, or Frank Lloyd Wright... Wright once told his students that they ought to plant ivy or large hedges around their early architectural designs, so that in years to come their mistakes would be unseen as the foliege grew.

6th Street Bridge

2007-11-22T22:43:00.000-08:00

This new piece is another moderately large one, it is 30 x 30 inches, oil on canvas. I actually crawled down the steep concrete basin to the bottom and walked a couple of miles along the L.A. River (in the rain) to shoot some photos a while back. Prepared to risk life and limb for my art, I almost slid on some gravel and toppled down to my imminent demise. But fortunately I lived to tell the tale and finish this painting, unscathed.

This view is a rather iconic angle of the old art deco era bridge, I loved seeing that dark underbelly, plus the reflections in the murky water. I decided to keep the color rather simple, emphasizing the dramatic contrasts. There's alot of thick paint on there, but other areas I kept washy and thin. The canvas was begun with gray gesso, a technique that allowed me to better judge appropriate values. At the drawing stage, I had to find my vanishing point and more accurately depict what the camera lens tends to bend. I'm very pleased with the finish here, it's one of those pieces that I've long wanted to paint.

CANTERS, FAIRFAX

2007-10-25T19:26:00.000-07:00

This is my new painting, "Canters, Fairfax". It is a relatively large painting for me, 36 x 48 inches, oil on canvas. I've spent months working on this one, it's one of my favorite pieces this year. Canter's is a really great deli located on Fairfax in Hollywood.

BILLIARDS AT EMBERS LOUNGE

2007-10-03T13:27:00.001-07:00

This new painting is called "Billiards at Embers Lounge". It is 18 x 24 inches, oil on canvas. I tried to clean up the photo, when I photographed the painting there was alot of glare in the upper left corner.

This is one of the first paintings for my upcoming January show that includes a figure. Over the years I have excluded any figures within my paintings, my effort was often to express lonliness or aloneness. And a figure makes for an entirely different kind of painting. I think it works well here, this lounge interior would be incomplete without the guy shooting pool. It's like my own version of one of my favorite Van Gogh paintings, "Night Cafe with Pool Table".

I happened upon Embers Lounge when I was out on photo safari a few months back. William Wray accompanied me to Whittier, we had just shot a vintage bowling alley and wanted to get a cocktail at Embers and rest our feet. We were pleasantly surprised to find the bar filled with mediocre paintings done in the 50's or 60's by a patron who had paid off his bar tab by decorating the place with his depiction of hell... hence the name of the lounge, "Embers". It was like we time warped back into the 1960's.

Night Trains

2007-09-21T18:03:00.000-07:00

Overwhealmed with other obligations, I've still managed to get a good amount of painting done since my last post here, but I've only just photographed my four new pieces. The first one here is "Night Trains", 18 x 24 inches, oil on canvas. It's part of my ongoing series of nocturnes and also the LA river. According to my friend William Wray, we're apparently founding members of the "LA River School of Painting".

This painting depicts a train yard, just east of downtown Los Angeles by the LA River. I was on a bridge, above the river, just as the sun had set. Not a place I'd prefer to spend an evening alone, I painted the view back in my studio rather than plein-air. It's really a study in blues, a narrow variety of color, almost a tonalist piece. I chose to paint it with a loaded brush, there's alot of pigment on there, giving it a liquid feel without much for hard edges. Painting the night is difficult, as I've said before, because it doesn't photograph well and the artist needs a good color memory and sense of color harmony. It's easy to let the painting go into black, and I try to never let it get too dark, allowing the viewer to see into this shadowy world. The earliest part of the evening is like a magical hour, it really casts a melancholy mood onto the landscape.

WESTLAKE

2007-08-09T16:42:00.000-07:00

This new oil on canvas is called, "Westlake", and it is 12 x 16 inches. Westlake is an area just west of downtown Los Angeles, along Wilshire Boulevard. Once upon a time, this was one of the most fashionable ares to live in LA. And even though the area has lost it's upscale residents, it hasn't lost it's obvious beauty. I think that the contemporary architecture of the LA skyline is best viewed from afar, I really like how the hazy atmosphere seems to naturally mass the shapes of the buildings. Almost like Sam Hyde Harris' paintings of early California with his hazy mountains and trees in the distance.

Miracle Mile

2007-07-27T21:47:00.000-07:00

This is "Miracle Mile", a smaller oil on canvas, 12 x 16 inches. Sorry, but the pic turned out a little bluish. The Miracle Mile is a stretch of road west of downtown Los Angeles on Wilshire Boulevard. There's alot of old art deco architecture along there, including the El Rey Theater here in my painting.

When I began the execution of this piece, I started out rather loose and painterly. But the lack of detail seemed to be problematic, it felt unfinished and bothered me. So the result here (from 2 to 3 sittings) is a painterly, but finished out piece.

Los Angeles River Trains II

2007-07-20T14:58:00.000-07:00

Another new painting in the more "alla-prima" or painterly style. I kept the color very quiet in this one, started it with just a burnt umber lay-in with a little blue to cool it down. I like the overall effect with it's gritty and industrial feel. It's oil on canvas (16 x 20 inches) and it's called "Los Angeles River Trains II", since I have already painted the area so many times. I can really see how a painter enjoys revisiting themes again and again, I'd like to think that my treatment of the subject changes and improves with each piece.

Union Station

2007-06-21T01:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the pic quality on this one, it's not so sharp. For those of you who are familiar with Los Angeles, you've probably made your way thru "Union Station" to catch a train at one time or another. This painting is 16 x 20 inches, oil on canvas, and depicts the outdoor waiting area of the old Art Deco era train station.

The paint handling is much looser than I'm accustomed to. Lately I've been experimenting with a more loaded brushstroke, thicker paint application, more palette knife use, and working quickly or more intuitively. This is the first one that I'm posting, I feel like it worked out well (although my pic doesn't show the variety of color in my darker shadow areas).

Beverly Liquor and Randy's Donuts

2007-06-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

"Beverly Liquor"

"Beverly Liquor" is a recently finished oil on canvas, 18 x 36 inches. For this new series of Los Angeles landscapes, I've spent alot of time researching locations and looking for 1950's style architecture and signage. Anything with the Googie style (like this Liquor Deli sign) was a big plus in my urban photo-safari. This liquor store is on Beverly Blvd. and I was lucky enough to see the bus pulling away from it's stop just accross the street... I feel like it really makes the painting.

"Randy's Donuts"

"Randy's Donuts" is fresh off the easel, it's actually still wet and waiting for a final varnish. It is 18 x 24 inches, oil on canvas. As far as donuts in LA goes, this place is an institution. Relatively close to LAX, it's located on the corner of La Cienega and Manchester Boulevards. One of my teachers from Art Center (Jim Heimann) actually once photographed the Oscar Meyer Weiner-Mobile driving past this place... he called it divine intervention mixed with positive karma and dumb-luck. Anyway, I was surprised that I had never seen a painting of it before, and I had long been inspired to paint it, so it seemed natural that I would include it in the series.

Starlite Drive-In Theater

2007-06-04T15:06:00.000-07:00

This is my newest painting, "Starlite Drive-In Theater". It is a smaller oil on canvas, 14 x 18 inches. Recently, I've started a dozen new paintings. All of them are depicting something of the Los Angeles area. That's why I've been slow to post any new artwork here on blogger for the last month, but now several of them should be coming upon completion soon. I may even pick away at this one a little more before I bring it to the gallery. Any suggestions?

This particular drive-in is actually no longer in use as a theater, but rather a swap-meet. The big screen is gone, so I had to imagine it here in my painting. The old sign was my initial inspiration, I love the old star on the googie style sign, as well as the long bluish shadow cast by it.

FOX THEATER, WESTWOOD

2007-04-24T15:24:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to paint a successful nocturne, I chose a view that I already painted in the daytime. This is "FOX THEATER, WESTWOOD", it is 20 x 30 inches, oil on canvas.

Westwood Village is a stone's throw from the UCLA campus, there are a bunch of great old art deco movie theaters in walking distance from one another. Plus I actually just visited the Armond Hammer Museum in Westwood on Friday and saw their collection of Daumier paintings. Anyway... I'm satisfied with how this painting turned out, especially the color. Nocturnal paintings often get too dark when the painter relies too much on his photo refrence and not his color memory.

Los Angeles Winter

2007-03-29T16:20:00.000-07:00

After a friend told me that I paint "all warm paintings", I thought I'd try to proove him wrong with this piece and the "Stockton Landscape" posted below. This one is called "Los Angeles Winter", it is 20 x 20 inches, oil on canvas. It is just east of downtown LA, over the 4th Street bridge by the train yards.

Stockton Landscape

2007-03-29T16:00:00.000-07:00

I just finished this one last night, it's called "Stockton Landscape", 24 x 36 inches, oil on canvas. Tried to keep the color quiet in this one, the palette is mostly earth tones. The canvas I started with was an experiment, I toned it with a couple coats of light gray gesso... it really helped me maintain the mood I was going for.

I was up in Stockton in December for the Leyendecker show with Bill Wray. We ran around town shooting photos when we weren't looking at the Leyendecker paintings. Stockton is an old town in Northern California that's full of old shipping docks and railway depots along the river. I felt like this scene was right out of the 1970's with that old green car and railroad crossing signs. A cold day, likely the neighborhood of dock workers' families.

GALLERY GROUP SHOW

2007-03-06T14:07:00.000-08:00

This new painting is called, "Paris, City of Lights". It is 18 x 24 inches, oil on canvas.

I wanted to let everyone know about my group show that opens this Saturday evening, March 10th, at the Tirage Gallery in Pasadena. I will be exhibiting four new Paris paintings and one large drawing. It is a themed show called, "Foreign Shores".

PARIS PAINTINGS

2007-01-24T16:04:00.000-08:00

"CATHEDRAL VIEW" (Notre-Dame) oil on canvas, 34 x 44 inches

These are my three newest paintings of Paris. Sorry if I haven't posted in a while, but I've been busy finishing the lot of them (and more). Tomorrow I'll bring them up to Pasadena, they'll be part of the "Travel Show" at the Tirage Gallery in March.

After my trip to Europe in September, I was inspired to paint these. They were just something I absolutely had to do. The first one (above) is, "CATHEDRAL VIEW" (Notre-Dame). It is oil on canvas, 34 x 44 inches. The pic of the painting turned out a bit dark. Anyway, I felt that I needed to paint this one big, my only regret is that I didn't paint it even bigger. I wanted to capture the feeling of massive grandeur and awe that I felt while standing on top of the cathedral bell tower, looking down over the ancient city. When I was up there, I felt that all of my work toward my skills and abilities culminated into that one moment, where hopefully I could put that view onto canvas. This will be one of those paintings that I'll especially hate to sell.

"BRIDGE ON THE SEINE" oil on canvas, 28 x 38 inches This next one (above image) is "BRIDGE ON THE SEINE" oil on canvas, 28 x 38 inches. Holly and I walked along the Seine River one morning on our way to the Musee d'Orsay. You can see the museum structure off in the distance in the painting. I loved the form of this 19th century bridge in the foreground and it's reflection in the water.

"LOUVRE" oil on canvas, 16 x 24 inches
And the last one pictured (above) is called "LOUVRE" oil on canvas, 16 x 24 inches. The view is actually looking down from the Musee d'Orsay. It was the only one of ten days in Paris that actually had a little rain. The stormy clouds looked so powerful over the structure of the Louvre.

It was difficult to narrow down what to paint from Paris. I can see why Hemmingway called it "A Movable Feast". Everywhere I looked was a seemingly potential painting. In contrast, it seems alot harder coming home to so-cal and searching for subject matter. I can see how the Impressionists could spend decades painting in the city of Paris and never run out of inspiring views.

Cuyamaca Reserve

2007-01-12T14:39:00.000-08:00

This is a 10x12 inch plein-air painting I did called "Cuyamaca Reserve". The area is up in the mountains, just east of San Diego. The last time I had been to this place before I painted it was for 6th grade camp as a kid. As I was working out there on location with my friend Bill Wray, the sun went down behind those trees and my fingers froze. I had to finish the piece in the studio later. I think I poured way too much time into it for such a small painting, but I like how it turned out. The broken color and the impressionist's palette were challenging for me.

PHILIPPE'S AT NIGHT

2006-12-28T14:51:00.000-08:00

I've recently been going through some files of paintings I did a while back. I love the holidays, but late December feels like a distraction from the studio, it's constantly beckoning me to come and work. Anyway, I never got around to posting this piece... it's called "Philippe's at Night", oil on canvas, 20 x 30 inches. I painted a daytime version before I attempted this nocturne. It's an old saw-dust on the floor kind of place, located in Los Angeles close to the train yards of old Union Station. They serve up some killer french dipped sandwiches.

Meanwhile, in the studio I'm currently painting a couple large canvases that I will post soon. It feels slow-going, but I love the scale of the large finished work. I plan on working bigger and bigger, I want that sense of awe and grandeur in my work. Last night was my first chance in several days, but I'm back at the all-night painting binge. I think that working at night is why nocturnes appeal to me so much.

San Diego Harbor

2006-12-17T22:33:00.000-08:00

I went on a little trip up the California coast this week. I didn't get much painting done, so I'm posting a plein-air painting that I did a few weeks ago, called "San Diego Harbor", It is 12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas.

My first stop on my trip was in San Louis Obispo where Bill Wray introduced me to a gallery owner. Once I get some new paintings finished, I look forward to perhaps doing a show up there.

Then Bill and I went on to San Francisco where we saw the de Young Museum's collection of American painting. The highlights of the collection for me were Rockwell Kent, an Edward Hopper, a major Thomas Benton tempera painting, and a couple Thiebauds. I looked at my list of potential galleries to show my work around town, but I didn't get the feel that I would fit in just right... I only liked a couple places. But I shot alot of film and hopefully will do some "Bay Area" paintings.

And finally we made our way to Stockton. The long awaited J.C. Leyendecker show was at the Haggin Museum there, we spent two days viewing the exhibit of 50 original artworks. I can't think of another artist who can paint the figure with more excitement and technical mastery. The above image is the kind of illustration work that he's typically known for, the idealized American male of the 1920's. I have a huge collection of Leyendecker stuff, dating from the late 1890's thru the late 1940's. He did covers for the Saturday Evening Post and paved the way for Norman Rockwell (who idolized Leyendecker). And since I want to paint the figure more in my work, there's few who's paintings can educate like Leyendecker's. It was great to see so many in person.

NEW DRAWINGS

2006-11-30T16:32:00.000-08:00

"FASHION DISTRICT" charcoal drawing, 28.5 x 21.75 inches

"Rue de Rivoli, Paris", charcoal drawing, 23.75 x 35.75 inches

For a long time, I have been contemplating how I can put the figure into my regular gallery work. I've made several awkward attempts in the past, but I wasn't satisfied and rarely exhibited those pieces. I had been able to draw and paint the figure quite competently, but only by itself, never in one of my landscapes. I think that one of the most difficult things for an artist to do is marry these two worlds of landscape and figure. The figure can look out of place, or the landscape can look like an afterthought.

Knowing that the figure in my landscapes isn't one of my personal strengths in painting, I decided to do my homework with a fully worked out preliminary drawing. I don't know why I've felt so timid, lazy, or rushed to attempt this in the past, because I really like these two new drawings.

The first one, "Fashion District", is located in downtown Los Angeles on Broadway. I shot numerous rolls of film of people walking by. I got in a couple yelling matches (and nearly a fist-fight) with people who REALLY didn't want their picture taken. I understand how intrusive this method of photography can be, but anything for my art, right? I'm not sure if these two girls thought they were getting out of my shot, perhaps they didn't notice me. Their faces seemed somehow in thought and slightly self-conscious. I found their clothes interesting, their attempt to dress as much alike as possible, the same kind of over-stuffed coats with fur hoods, similar earrings, and they were each walking with their left hand inside their sleeves.

The second one, "Rue de Rivoli, Paris", is of course from my vacation a couple months ago. After seeing the Louvre, I felt quite compelled to paint the figure. Almost no great artist in the museums I saw completely ignored the figure. And I knew that I would need a new challenge for my work when I got home. The time I spent on the drawing was more focused on the landscape than the girl in the foreground, but she is certainly the star of the show. I shot some photos early one Sunday morning, Parisians sleep in quite late, so I had to walk 4 blocks to find a place that was open and had coffee. As I shot pictures all along the way, I fell in love with the patterns in the street, the gray landscape, and all of the Parisian buildings. It felt like the perfect moment when she walked into the scene, especially since there were so few other people and only one car.

I have already mapped out a couple of large canvases for Paris landscapes. So my next step is to paint something based on these drawings. Painting the figure, I would prefer to be less impressionistic, more layering and glazing like the old masters. In the end, I'm sure it will be a combination. But these two new images have been haunting my mind, they resonated with me somehow. I'm very inspired to paint them.

Fog Train

2006-11-08T10:49:00.000-08:00

This painting is "Fog Train", it is 12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas. I usually don't choose frames like this, but I fell in love with this one. I felt that the frame echos the train tracks, and the black against the grey/tonal palette of the piece makes for a striking presentation.

Last week, I went landscape painting around town with William Wray ( http://williamwray.blogspot.com/ ). We got alot of work done, I'll have to post my recent stuff soon.

805 FREEWAY

2006-11-05T10:08:00.000-08:00

This is another little 8 x 10 inch painting that I did "plein-air", on location with Aron Wiesenfeld ( http://aronwiesenfeld.com/ ). We were on a grassy hill overlooking the 805 freeway, with some industrial warehouses below us and Tijuana off in the distance.

LA BRIDGES (After the gallery opening... back to work)

2006-10-24T12:09:00.000-07:00

This is a piece I did completely "plein-air" or on location over a period of 2 days. I't called "La Loma Bridge", 8x10 inches, oil on canvas. It's up in Pasadena, close to the Art Center where I went to college. I painted it with my friend Bill Wray a while back, but I never got a chance to post it here on my blog...

With my vacation, plus getting ready for last week's Timmons Gallery show, I don't have any new paintings finished so I'm posting this one too. I did it for my June show at Tirage, it's called "LOS ANGELES VIADUCT", 16x20 inches, oil on canvas. The location is along the Los Angeles River, looking down from Elysian Park. I've seen some of the old 1920's watercolorists paint this view, like Emil Kosa Jr.

My show at Timmons went well on Saturday. We had an excellent turn out, the place was packed. I saw some old familiar faces that I hadn't seen in a long time too. Glad I could finally do a big San Diego show. Dan McCaw was last month's Timmons show, I really admire his work and there was some beautiful stuff. The gallery space in Rancho Santa Fe is brand new and shows off the artwork nicely, but they just moved from Solana Beach, so not everyone knows about the new location. The new Timmons Gallery will be a real gem to collectors when they get in there, alot of great art by various artists is available. My work will be hanging for a month, along with Aron Wiesenfeld's.

Meanwhile, I've got time to chew my fingernails, hoping sales go well. San Diego has a large number of wealthy people with large new stucco mansions, who desperately need art whether they know it or not. A variety of folks, from old money to the "nouveau reich" (especially from real-estate). Lots of empty wall space, or decorative mirrors and furniture store bought art. Typically, not often the creative or meaningful sense of decorating their homes by surrounding themselves with inspiring objects, yet there's certainly alot of money spent on fashionable decor and home improvement. I wonder if San Diego knows about it's reputation for being a "cultural wasteland"? I don't mean to be too critical or down on San Diegans, because I truly love it here, but it is certainly more of a sports-culture or beach-culture by reputation. For example, what often happens if I meet someone and in conversation tell them that I'm a painter, their first reaction is to say, "Oh! I really need my kitchen painted!" And I'll correct them and say, "Sorry, what I mean is that I'm an artist..." Then they get a generally confused look on their face. In contrast, with Los Angeles or New York, there's a sense of reverence for artists and all the arts. They've experienced the feeling and wonderment of great museums, they appreciate that beauty of the arts, which is the highest expression of the human experience. Discovered a deep feeling within them, having been inspired by creative works. Moved to find meaning in their lives. But then again, if their only exposure to it was some commercial gallery in La Jolla with sub-standard and mass-produced art, or modernist museums that leave them feeling excluded and confused, I can see why it doesn't whet their appetite. Understandably, San Diegans might make the mistake of thinking that all art is "stuck-up" and miss out. Hopefully, as people patronize galleries like Timmons, they can discover for themselves what could be some of the most enriching and meaningful stuff in their lives.

TIMMONS GALLERY SHOW, opens 10/21/2006

2006-10-15T22:21:00.000-07:00

My first big San Diego show opens this Saturday, October 21st, from 6pm to 9pm at the Timmons Gallery in Rancho Santa Fe. Everyone is invited, I'll have approximately 30 new artworks exhibited there. Please join us!

Timmons Gallery
16091 San Dieguito Road
Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067

www.timmonsgalleries.com
(858)756-8488

I'm honored to be exhibiting along with my very good friend, Aron Wiesenfeld, one of the most talented painters I've ever known. We're sharing a full page ad in this month's issue of American Art Collector (seen above) compliments of the Timmons Gallery.

Bridge Lights

2006-10-05T00:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been back home from Europe for a little over a week now. I finished up this nocturnal painting that I started before I left, "Bridge Lights", it is 24x24 inches. The location is along the LA river.

Europe was fantastic. I bought so many art books that when I was coming home, the airline almost wouldn't let me check my luggage because of the weight... and that's AFTER I shipped the heavy ones home. I saw just about every major art museum in London and Paris. Taking it all in was rather like drinking out of a fire hose. I was really struck by the Bonnard paintings at the d'Orsay Museum, that use of color and his whimsical treatment of subjects. Millet, Manet, and Monet all really struck a cord. And I loved seeing all of Delacroix's major works at the Louvre, they had a powerful presence. As did the Hubert Robert paintings. I was also surprised to find that the TATE had an entire wing of the museum dedicated to J.M.W. Turner.

This is me in front of one of Monet's murals in Paris...

I'm always attempting to successfully photograph a nocturne... this is "The Nag's Head" in London...

My wife Holly at the Tuilleries...
Holly and I outside the Louvre in Paris...

I can really only begin to express how overwhealmingly wonderful it all was. I shot approximately 1800 pictures in all, I have fantastic refrence for my March show at Tirage. I was impressed at London's immaculate cleanliness, orderliness, and polite manners (especially in contrast to the Parisians). And Paris has got to be the most picturesque city in the world, plus they win when it comes to their vast art collections. I hope someday to be able to make an extended stay and work there. I did little more than a handful of sketches because I was so busy seeing everything. And we walked so much that we had giant blisters on our feet. Not the most restful vacation, but certainly the best one I've been on.

Torrey Pines

2006-09-02T16:19:00.000-07:00

This new painting is called "Torrey Pines", it is oil on canvas, 20x24 inches. This is a favorite spot of mine, very close to where I live in San Diego. I frequent Torrey Pines State Beach as often as I can, mostly just to walk and enjoy the sound of the pounding surf. I painted this for my Timmons Gallery exhibition in Rancho Santa Fe in October.

I will be going on vacation on Tuesday, so this will be my last post until September 23rd. I've been burning the candle at both ends for months now, so I'm in dire need of a get-away. Fortunately I've had some decent sales since my June show, so I'm taking my wife to London and Paris for about 3 weeks. Yes, I'll be bringing my sketchbook and my camera. Hopefully I'll return with lots of ideas and inspiration for new works. Can't wait to see the National Portrait Gallery, the Tate, the Louvre, and the De'Orsay Museum. And I just booked our dinner cruise on the Seine... I'm sooo looking forward to some French cuisine.

La Paloma Theater

2006-08-28T18:07:00.000-07:00

This one is fresh off the easel, it's called "La Paloma Theater". Oil on canvas, 24x36 inches. The building is located on the Pacific Coast Highway here in San Diego. I believe the specific area is actually called Encinitas. Anyway, the day I drove by it for the first time, it struck me as something that I simply had to paint. The marquee had some other movie title on it, but I replaced it with "Some Like It Hot", a Marilyn Monroe movie that took place here in San Diego. Yes, the pigeons are eating popcorn.

La Jolla Cove

2006-08-21T14:20:00.000-07:00

This is my newest painting, "La Jolla Cove". It is 30x40 inches, oil on canvas. Right now I'm painting larger canvases of San Diego scenes for my October show at the Timmons Gallery. Historically, this scene has been painted many times at different angles by artists such as Edgar Payne, Maurice Braun, and several of the old "California Impressionists" back around early 20th century. Compositionally, I decided to focus more on the sky. Hopefully making my painting less typical of La Jolla Cove paintings I've seen. I used broader brushstrokes and very heavy paint than I usually do. I often like that kind of blobby paint in other's work, I don't know why I haven't done more of it myself. Perhaps it just takes time to work more confidently in "alla-prima". It makes for a more deeply felt piece in my opinion, because the artist is working faster and can maitain the initial thought that motivated him to do that particular painting.

SINGER BUILDING, PASADENA

2006-08-16T16:55:00.000-07:00

I did this piece as a comission a while back. It was something like 20x30 inches, oil on canvas. The client's mother had worked in this building back in the day and he had a vintage photo of the building with the old Ford Model-T parked out front. The place had since been painted a different color, but was otherwise still there. I went and shot photos of the place and used a combination of my shots and his photo to do this painting.

At the time, I was working in a small spare bedroom in my Glendale apartment. My progress in my work had slowed to a pathetic crawl. The heat would get so bad in that apartment that I would spend my days lying in my underwear on the couch with a fan blowing, attempting to keep cool. It never worked. Thank God for air-conditioning in my new place. Being comfortable while I work is far more important than I had ever realized... I guess I'm kind of a baby. To paint, I need to be cool and not too warm, well fed, well rested, free of interuptions, a clear head, and to top it all off I need to feel inspired. Usually I can work myself into inspiration, but inspiration must be coaxed. If all these prerequisites aren't in place, I won't get anything done. If I worked at an office or worked doing manual labor, I wouldn't need to be inspired. I could just show up and grunt through it. But painting is a spiritual act. When there's no inspiration, the painting won't be any good. But working through the difficult times is imparative, it's the only way to come out on the other side. I really feel like I'm currently doing some of the best work I've ever done. It's taken years to build momentum. I feel continually anxious to see my own future paintings.

LAKE HODGES

2006-08-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

"Lake Hodges" is 18x36 inches, oil on canvas. After spending weeks on the "Muffler Monument" painting that's posted below, I wanted to paint something that would give me some instant gratification. I just finished this "Lake Hodges" painting, it moved at lightening speed. It's got some thick impastos on there, I think I used $30 worth of white paint. Lots of palette knife at the lay in stage and broad brush strokes kept me from getting too fussy with the details, just looking at the big picture. I had fun with this one.

Muffler Monument (painting)

2006-08-07T20:48:00.000-07:00

Finally I'm back on line. Turns out that my DSL modem was on the fritz, so I got a new one. If you recall, a while back I did a drawing of "Muffler Monument". It was a preliminary study for this painting.

"Muffler Monument" is 36x36 inches, oil on canvas, a fairly large painting. I figured that since I'd done my homework with a nice finished drawing, that it would be easy-street in executing the painting. Unfortunately, it didn't move so quickly. I had started with an all burnt umber lay-in. It looked awesome, maybe I should have stopped there. Then I proceeded to apply color, that's when I got into trouble... I had to re-paint the sky at least three times. But they say that a good painting should show some struggle. I'm pleased with the finished painting, I'd better be for as long as it took. It will be in my October show at the Timmons Gallery in Rancho Santa Fe.

Coronado Bridge

2006-07-25T16:33:00.000-07:00

This is another plein-air painting I did, it's called "Coronado Bridge". The size is 9x12 inches, oil on canvas. I enjoyed letting myself go a little bit in this one, the drawing is a bit quirky, and the paint rather thick in the sky. Perhaps I ought to let go a little more?

Believe it or not... this was another occasion that I was harassed by the cops when painting on location. My friend Aron and I were setting up our easels when a cop car pulled up. The officer had to run thru our drivers license numbers to see if we were terrorists or not. Fortunately, he let us go about our buisness. I always try hard to be nice to those jerks. I guess they need to fill out their stat sheets to account for their time not spent in the donut shop. Gotta look busy.

SOLEDAD LAGOON

2006-07-19T19:09:00.000-07:00

This is a plein-air painting of "Soledad Lagoon", oil on canvas, 9x12 inches. I painted it on location, just off Carmel Valley Road by Torrey Pines. It was a nice cool evening and I was accompanied by my friend Aron Wiesenfeld... http://aronwiesenfeld.com/

The area has nice little trails and a parking lot for beach access. Earlier, when I was scouting around and looking for a place to paint, a park ranger approached me. I guess he had nothing better to do, so he started harassing me. Told me the area was off limits and it was a wildlife rehabilitation area (total BS, there was only a no parking sign). So when he gave me a ticket, I didn't have much to say. Later, when I went to court to fight the ticket, the judge threw out the case. Fortunately, as it turns out, the judge's mother was a painter too :-)

The Girl Next Door

2006-07-10T21:23:00.000-07:00

Although I started this one nearly a year ago, I just recently finished it. At first, I wasn't all that pleased with it, untill last week when I re-worked it. I'm much more satisfied with it now, I even re-named it "The Girl Next Door". It is 18x24 inches, oil on canvas.

I've been a fan of Edward Hopper for a long time now. I have too many favorite painters to name, but he's certainly toward the top of my list. I had him in mind when I was working on this one, this neighborhood is just like the kind he would have painted back in the 1940's. It is located in the old University Heights area, just east of downtown San Diego.

The Night Drop

2006-07-05T13:14:00.000-07:00

This is a larger painting, 36x36 inches, oil on canvas. I'm calling it "The Night Drop". I actually started painting it a year ago and took it to the gallery. It was rented out (with a few other paintings of mine) to a studio set for the newest Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore movie called "Because I said So". But I still didn't feel satisfied with the painting, and it sat around the gallery for a while with no buyers. So I took it home and totally re-worked it.

Nocturnes are amongst the most difficult subjects for me. I picked away at it, changing the values, adding the cars, warehouse doors (the prominent center of interest because of the light), as well as the other city lights in the distance. That car driving thru this otherwise empty landscape made me think that perhaps the driver was up to something, so I gave it a new title "The Night Drop". The painting has an entirely different feel now, I like it much better than before.

Musso & Frank's Nocturne

2006-06-29T14:14:00.000-07:00

My show went well last Saturday, there was a great turn out and I saw alot of old friends. Wish I could have had this painting done on time, I was only a week off in completing it. This one is called "Musso & Frank's Nocturne", the size is a fairly large 30x40 inches, oil on canvas. I've painted Musso and Frank's before, but during the daytime. It's the oldest restaurant in Hollywood, it's been there since 1919. All the old Hollywood stars ate there back in the day, including Charlie Chaplin. In the Tim Burton movie, "Ed Wood", Ed went there (dressed as a woman) and met his hero Orson Welles. It was also a favorite watering hole of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemmingway.

I feel that the best way to approach doing a nocturne is to get a strong foundational drawing, so that I have a good idea of the structure even when it's hidden by the shadowy darkness. I had to make up alot of things in this one, particularly the ironwork on the facade of the forward building. And importantly, the color harmony of this piece seemed to work for me. I pushed the foreground to a warmer purple and redish color, and the area further away into cooler greens and blues. I think it has a good feel to it, like a comfortable alone-ness.

My Gallery Exhibition in Pasadena this Saturday, June 24th

2006-06-17T14:50:00.000-07:00

Finally, after nearly a year of work, I'm having my exhibition with 25 new drawings and paintings. It will be at the Tirage Gallery in Pasadena on Saturday, June 24th, from 5pm to 8pm. The address is One West California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91105. For more detalis, go to www.tirageart.com

This new painting is called "Crossroads", the location is the historic Crossroads of the World building on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood. It is 18x24 inches, oil on canvas.

CITY TRAIN painting and EAST VILLAGE NOCTURNE

2006-06-14T15:06:00.000-07:00

This new painting is called "City Train", it is 24x36 inches. If you scroll down, you can see the drawing I did of this same place a while back. In this painting, I wanted to play with a bluish palette, keeping the color very limited. It has a rather smokey, hazy feel.

This is "East Village Nocturne", it is 16x24 inches. The scene here is on St. Marks, the East Village bookshop, a brownstone, and Cafe Magador. One of my favorite little places in Manhattan.

Night Bridge

2006-06-08T19:02:00.000-07:00

When I was a young art student, Van Gogh's "Starry Night" was one of my favorite paintings. Nocturnes remain to be among my favorite subjects and one of the more difficult things to paint. The subject seen here is east of downtown Los Angeles, one of the old WPA era bridges over the LA river. This area is full of industrial warehouses, sweat shops, and truck depots. I wanted the viewer to get a sense of the quiet solitude of this area at night, and make my own contemporary version of a Van Gogh like nocturne. It is 18x24 inches, oil on canvas.

This painting sold immediately in my exhibition, there was alot of interest in it by several collectors. But the Tirage Gallery stalled on paying me for it, it's been almost two years now. Never did get my money.

City Train (drawing)

2006-06-01T17:36:00.000-07:00

This is a drawing I did a while ago, back in 2002. I've got a new painting of it, or rather a variation of this scene, but I'll have to photograph it soon to share it here on the blog. I have long since sold this drawing, I believe it is something like 18x24 inches.

Back then I used to go on "urban photo safari" around Los Angeles with my friend Suong Yangchareon. He and I went to photograph at this location overlooking downtown LA and the 5 freeway, among other places. Now he's making the big bucks, he shows with Wayne Thiebaud and Diebenkorn up in San Francisco at the Paul Thiebaud Gallery.

New York Interior

2006-05-27T14:58:00.000-07:00

A little more than a year ago, I made a trip to NYC to see the John Currin Retrospective at the Whitney. Whenever I'm there in New York, I stay in the East Village. Somewhere down around St. Mark's and Avenue "A", right by Thompkin's Square. That's where the setting for this drawing takes place. I only finished it recently, it's charcoal on strathmore kid finish paper, making for really nice rich blacks.

DOWNTOWN INTERCHANGE

2006-05-18T14:38:00.000-07:00

This is the largest painting I've ever done, 54x48 inches. The view is of the 110 freeway cutting thru downtown Los Angeles. I started it just before Christmas, then I pulled it out again 3 weeks ago and decided to finish it.

I had considered having a bunch of cops running a car off the road and chasing or tackling a crazed woman trying to flee on foot. It actually happened to my next door neighbor in Pasadena, she was a fruit loop, didn't take her medication and got caught in a high speed chase. I saw it happen on the news.

But then I thought... who the heck is going to buy that? Then again, it might work. Maybe I ought to try it in the future. Like Goya's series, it could be called... "I saw it happen".