San Diego River through Mast Park

It has been a while since I've posted, but I have been busy painting. A trip up to Northern California was beautiful and quite inspirational. This painting is a local one, though, from before the trip. We ventured out to Mast Park in Santee- my first time painting there.

It was an overcast morning on the River when I started, but the sun broke through by the time I finished. I tried to stay true to the initial impression and not chase the day. We have another visit planned here Friday.


San Diego River through Mast Park, 8x10, oil on linen panel


Lots of paintings from the trip to follow...

Shell Beach - San Diego

Well, I didn't see many shells, but there were tons of tourists. It was a bright sunny day and it was fun to get out there.

Shell Beach - San Diego, 8x10, oil on linen

Torrey Pines - Solitary

A while back I took some reference photos of Torrey Pines State Reserve. I enhanced the lighting effects and distance in this painting- so that it was more as I remembered it. Sometimes the camera fools us- one way is that it just can't capture all of the light and dark values that our eyes see, so the darks are black and the lights are white. This is when the experience of painting outdoors helps. I know the shadows aren't black and I use that in my painting. I'm not sure if that comes across in the painting's photo, though- it's the camera thing again.

The Aquarium

Now for something a little different. Birch Aquarium has an amazing 70,000 gallon kelp forest tank and a seated viewing area where visitors can check out a variety of fish. It is such a neat experience to sit down in front of this huge window of glass and watch the fish go by. The kids were mesmerized!

You can see it live with this "kelp cam."



The Aquarium, 12x12, oil on linen panel