GIRL ON BRIDGE

"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.

PCH at Torrey Pines

"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.