The Los Angeles Sky 2

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

"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

"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

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

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

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

"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

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

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

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

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

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

"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

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

"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.