Redwood Coast

How to paint a still life using the grid system...in the works

The image on the left is an 8 x 10 oil painting I have been chipping away at for about a week now.  It is an example of the popular grid system used for creating realistic paintings and drawings from a photo.   For the subject, I choose a wild cherry Pepsi and Vietnamese sandwich specifically.  They are a celebration of the most popular lunch combo a few friends and I depended on during our time in the Credential program at U.C Davis.  Without them, who knows what would have become of us!

I introduced this grid-system to my students just a few days ago and they have been making awesome self-portraits!  This painting needs only a few more hours of work (if I am lucky enough I will find that by the end of next week!)

California Landscape

20 X 24
oil on canvass

As a native son of California, I imagine myself to be part of a long lineage of pastoralists who lived off the land and among its beasts.  These men grew their hair long, packed serious heat and fed off the corpses of brilliant and steaming buffalo.  Many of these men held sway over entire populations of Grizzly, carved towering monoliths with their bare hands, and danced amazingly well.  It is clear they lived idyllically and were the most interesting people in the world.  Yet, I only imagine myself to be among this beefy and mythological fraternity.  The fact is, I live in a modern suburb and all the beasts are people.  People who drive cars.  

I have gotten over this.  In fact, I am more into the pastoral vision as it is portrayed in art.  This art is often religious and sublime in nature, and California has just the landscape to inspire it.  It was only a matter of time before I attempted such a landscape, and I imagined I would do something resembling the Coastal Range around the Bay Area - with that dreamy inspiration of pastoralism.   Lastly, I also tried to capture a billowing Thomas Hart Benton-esque feel.  I recently looked at a number of his murals and they were quite great. I suppose I tried to capture a region and it's spirit as he did. 

A Self Portrait

ECCE HOMO

Floppy the chicken

Oil on canvass  9 X 12''

This is Floppy.  She is a very special pet of a friend of mine.  Floppy lives a happy life in a spacious backyard, though has no reservations when it comes to traveling the neighborhood.  She has been known to scale fences in search of the best insects.  She doesn't even ask.  She pretty much does whatever she wants. 

Floppy is also a guard chicken.  She can be seen standing watch all night in her tree - well, its not her tree, but she thinks it is.  She thinks she owns everything.  This also reminds me of another one of her most pronounced traits. 

Floppy is very bossy.  For example, she will not hesitate to jump onto a breakfast table and interrupt one's meal or conversation.  She has done this on multiple occasions.  Her ill-mannered ways are abounding, yet she is a chicken and understands how the human mind works.  She always seems to get her way even when on her worst behavior.


Floppy is still a beloved pet.  I chose to create a portrait of her because of this fact.  I hope she appreciates this kind gesture on my part, though I feel that she is rather indifferent. I am not surprised, however.  She is always thinking of herself.   I don't take this personally.  Actually, I think she is just not that into art.  Some people are just not really into art.

Flowers are not just for girls. They are also for male botanists doing research.

Poppies



 O.k, I'm only kidding - all guys (botanist or not) can and should appreciate their beauty. I certainly do, and it just so happens that there are a few fantastic patches of California poppies on my street.  Three houses in a row have literally hundreds of them splattered everywhere right up to the sidewalk.  Needless to say, I was impressed and told myself I should do something to commemorate this great display.  I also noted that I have yet to paint any natural scene, or anything outdoors for that matter.  This was a moment I had to seize.

It is also a fact that the poppy (California Poppy) is the state flower of my home - the great state of California.  They are everywhere, including other states, but that doesn't matter because California called dibs first. Anyways, this was another reason I thought it a nice opportunity to take a stab at painting flowers and grassy stuff. 

 
These are all snippets from a painting that is 12 X 16 inches.  It is a regular oil on canvass, and the painting drawn from various photos I took of those great poppy gardens my neighbors have. 

I will definitely return to this subject in the future (maybe even get a little crazy with some plein aire). 

On Disgust

Oil on canvass 24X36''

Disgust is experienced primarily in relation to the sense of taste (real or perceived), and to anything which causes a similar feeling through smell, touch, or sight.  However, this feeling can occur in other instances.   For example, an blatant non-call by a line judge in a football game, when the quarterback clearly made a lateral pass resulting in a first down.  This is absolutely going to make you feel disgusted. And for those of you still unacquainted, allow me to introduce to you: Bill Cowher - the Disgusted Coach.

Cowher epitomizes the familiar scene in youth and professional sports of a coach, who - vis-a-vis the ref - simply begs to differ.  He has also become the face of this sentiment mainly through his scowls.  They (his scowls) actually have varying degrees of disagreeableness.  He might simply frown, a sign he likes you.  He could show his teeth, another indication he is rather relaxed and enjoying himself.  It is the last, and worst scowl (seen in this painting) which is the one to watch for.  In this example, Cowher appears to have just discovered a huge plot in which the ref conspires to having his entire Special Teams ejected for no apparent reason.  Actually - and I asked him personally - he was just asking the guy how his weekend was.  That's just the face he makes.