El Matador

It's been too long since I've been out landscape painting and after a month of trying to coordinate with friends, I succeeded in luring my friend Nick Schumaker (http://nicholasschumaker.blogspot.com) out to El Matador. I have to admit that the weather only seemed ideal. Bright and beautiful, but windy and sandy. You can see the grains of sand that got into the paint when you click on it. I had to empty sand out of my wallet later too. I ended up having to work really quickly as my paint was drying on my brush and my palette kept drying out as well. To top it off, there must have been a record number of model shoots and selfi shoots that day passing through with camera crews and onlookers. There was even a guy with a metal detector. It's not just in the movies folks. But as you can see, the magic lives on. I'm pretty happy with this painting and after having been to El Matador so many times, what were the odds of finding a new and unique place to paint? Here's a recap of some of the El Matador paintings I've done over the years:

The last of Inktober 2013.

While I'm not a compulsive sketcher, I do love to sketch and it was actually challenging to sketch something everyday for a month. Unfortunately, not everything comes out gold, so here are the last two good sketches of October. I did weed a few out and I'm not ashamed to say I redid a couple. Lesson learned: I've clearly crossed over to the digital side, cuz' man o man, I was begging for control Z. The ink was only flowing freely into accidents, but it's nice to know it can still come back and the daily sketching is a habit I've done the best I can to continue. I'll start posting those soon.

More Inktober 2013.

Inktober 2013 flashback continued.

As promised...

Uhhhh…Is 2014 too late to post my Inktober drawings?

Sorry guys. Got a little busy after Inktober ended and I fell off the blog posting wagon. That being said, get ready for a couple new posts of sketches!

Vasquez Rocks 11_11_12

 First time to Vasquez in over a year.

Channel Island Harbor in October

10/14/12 

10/07/12

Still goin' to Oxnard. It's a great way to escape the summer heat of October. Yes, the summer heat of October.

Sept 30, 2012 Channel Island Harbor, Oxnard

Been awhile since I did a boat painting.

08_05_12 Upper Franklin Reservoir

May 27, 2012 Sepulveda Dam

May 6, 2012

The most beautiful day I've ever had at El Matador. Perfect, perfect weather.

May 20, 2012 Vasquez Rocks

A trip to Vasquez Rocks makes it official - California is now in summer season. I can still feel the sun on my back.

April 29, 2012 Sepulveda Dam

Sepulveda Dam. Again.

Apr 22, 2012 Sepulveda Dam

This past Sunday at Lake Balboa Reservoir.

Apr 15, 2012 Paradise Cove

I felt a little creaky on Sunday, but I still managed to pull this out. A good warm up for next week.

040112_Azusa Waterfalls.

Been a month since the last outing.

12_04_11 Chantry Flats, Arcadia.

This one's a little quicker than the usual. Maybe an hour. The sun is setting earlier these days and I didn't get started 'till late afternoon. My fingers were frozen by the time I left.

11_27_11 Lake Balboa.

I've missed the last month due to rain and holidays and laziness, but here's the latest entry. Lake Balboa looks amazing at sunset. Something about the light in Fall.

Unfinished Storybook Project.

Unfinished Storybook Project.

One of the hardest images to create. 8 family members all different, all reacting differently for the camera and of course the dog. It's still a little jumbly, but turned out pretty good for a first pass.