Head paintings

I painted these experimental head studies back when I was

taking an independent study with Ray Turner

at Art Center. These were painted on found scraps

of woodblock using mostly mud color left over from

previous oil scraped on the side of my pallette

Grand Tetons

8.5"x 11" page gouache on paper.

I went on a snowboarding trip to the Grand Tetons

in Wyoming and thought that I should bring along with me

my gouache kit. I had always wanted to paint the tetons and

I finally had my chance so I set up out in the snow and just
as my paintbrush dipped into my water and onto the pallette,

the paint froze onto the brush making it impossible to paint

in 2 degree weather. I had to paint these pieces from my car.

Walker Ranch Lookout Placerita

24"x 36" oil on canvas

16"x 20" oil on canvas.

I just found out yesturday that this part of Placerita Canyon park

was on fire! Placerita has been a local

hidden gem for that classical California plein eir genre.

It would be sad to see it all burn down. I painted these pieces

from the Walker ranch trailhead a few years back.

Figure Drawings

Charcoal on paper

Natalie and Brian

"Foul Mouth"

16"x 20" acrylic and prismacolor pencil on canson paper.

"Natalie"

16"x 20" acrylic and prismacolor pencil on canson paper

I did these Illustrations back when airbrush was big.

I used my sister and my nephew as models for these pieces.

Charcoal Sketches

30"x 40" charcoal on paper. I thought that I would post some

of my older work from the Art Center days. I love working

with charcoal like paint and getting very messy with my hands.

You can let the process lose control a bit, kind of child like,

then gain control moving in and out of technique. The bottom

three are of my first great dane Bacus. He was one of five

great danes that I once owned.

Placerita Mountains

30"x 40" oil on canvas. I painted this piece in three

sessions when I was living in Acton, so I would stop

on my way home from work and set up right off of

the 14 fwy because the view was so good from the

offramp. Pleineir painting should be a reletively

safe outing but sometimes you can go to extremes

to get that incredible view.

Dreamworks Campus Sketch 3

9"x 12" sharpie extra fine on paper.

Dreamworks Campus Sketch 2

9"x 12" sharpie extra fine on paper.

Dreamworks Campus Sketch 1

9"x 12" sharpie extra fine on paper.

Highway 126

6"x 9" gouache. This spot is a hidden gem

located behind Magic Mountain at the

begining of hwy 126.

Fillmore Grape Vineyards

6"x 9" gouache. I painted this piece in Fillmore off of

the 126 just after a rainy week. Hwy 126 has some

of the best scenry in california but there is almost nowhere

safe to park and set up. I painted this piece right on

the highway with cars whizzing 3 to 5 feet from my

easel.

Industrial Area Burbank

5"x 12" warm and cool markers. This place has some really

cool abandoned factories and industrial buildings but it is

a really unsafe area. I sketched in my car with the doors locked.

Snail Rock

6"x 9" black and white gouache class demo at Vasquez Rocks.

Zoo Drive Trees

4"x 4" gouache. Another speed study at the L.A.

zoo and Jean Autry parking lot.

Baron Parkinglot

4"x 12" warm and cool markers and white

prisma pencil. The Baron shares this lot

with Levitz as well. Most of the industrial

studies I do are within this area because

it is all right down the street from

Dreamworks.

Maersk Trailers

3"x 7" warm and cool markers sketched

in glendale across the street from Dreamworks

on Grand Central ave.

Glendale Building

4"x 10" marker study. It helps to have a slightly

dry marker for a more textured and

painted look.

Industrial Alley sunset

3"x 5" gouache limited pallette 5 min speed study.

Sonora Park Trees

4"x 6" gouache. Notice how much that tree in the

back leans to the ground. There are a few of

those leaning trees at this park which

make for great angles in composition.

Industrial Building Glendale

4"x 10" gouache black & white.

Disney Studios

4"x 6" gouache. These are the old disney buildings

that surround Dreamworks studios. I painted this from

the DW parking structure.

Ed Davis Park

3"x 4" gouache color study.

Griffith Manor

4"x 6" gouache.

Borman Steele Building Burbank

4"x 6" gouache limited pallette.

Industrial Glendale

4"x 10" gouache limited pallette.

Griffith Trees Grouped

3"x 5" gouache. I painted this study with a one inch flat aquarelle brush.
A bigger brush on a smaller size study is a great way to learn how to get
strong graphic ballance shaped. It's also a great way to simplify the masses.

El Matador Beach Sunset

4"x 6" gouache class demo.

Art Center Demo

6'x 9" gouache. I almost cancelled class on the day that I did this demo because of the
rainy weather. We met up at Art Center and decided to try painting outside on the
wet lawn. Of course everyone was discouraged not only by the drizzle but the lack of
direct sunlight as well, so I did this demo. It's really nice to paint landscape in overcast
lighting rather than sun because the light really never changes much and the suject is
more pure rather than being all about the sunlight. You also can achieve much richer
color as well.

Griffith Park

6"x 9" gouache. I usually avoided painting in locations like this because of
the complex reflective and luminous lighting, as well as the dappled effect of
light and shadow. Once you get past the first attempt it opens up a whole
new look to your paintings.

Vasquez Rocks

4"x 6" gouache.

Cold Journey

Photoshop. I just felt like painting something

with snow and mountains.

This is our baby shower invite that I did about 2 months ago,
and I am happy to report that Adam Daniel was born July 19
at 6:10 pm 6 lbs 14 oz!! Patrick Mate sketched the drawing
of me and my wife.

Sonora Park

6"x 9" gouache. I spent a lot of my lunch breaks

painting here. This park has some of the nicest trees

but beware of the West Nile mosquito!!

Colorado Lake

4"x 6" gouache.

Towsley Canyon Shack

4"x 6" gouache study using lemon yellow, black and white. I use the lemon yellow

for areas of intensity and richness without using color relativity.

Vasquez Rocks

An older 4"x 6" gouache study at Vasquez using gouache more like watercolor

Mountainscape

4"x 6" gouache class demo. During a midterm demo session a student asked me to
paint a fast color study of a high altitude mountainscape, and he picked pthalo-turquoise
as a lay-in wash so I did this. He chose pthalo turquoise because he thought that it
was a hard color for him to use as an underpainting. Can you see the hikers?

Golden Hour

3"x 4" gouache. This study has such a long lens effect because I painted it across the freeway just as I was leaving work. Golden hour light is so great because it moves so fast forcing you to paint faster.

Industrial alleyway

6"x 6" gouache painted in glendale industrial area. These buildings were kind of
hard to paint because they were painted completely white. I struggled to
find the subtletly in the color harmonies.

Zoo drive

Another one of those small five to ten minute warm-up gouache studies at the
5fwy Zoo drive exit offramp.

Valencia business park trees.

4"x 6" gouache. I stylized these trees and bushes by simplifying the masses and details in order to finish the painting before losing the sunset.

San Fernando rd

4"x 6" gouache warm & cool pallette. Cars are hard!! You can't shorthand cars,
they need to be worked a little and I didn't really work these ones.