Patience Required

Patience Required
14x18 oil on canvas

This is the third in my series of knots. I had started the series when I came across the lobby of the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs. The huge plate glass windows in the entry were covered in a maze of tangled ropes. I became decidedly uncool in that very cool setting.

I probably would have taken the painting a little further, but I left for a week long painting workshop that has got me excited about moving in a different direction.

The value study

Beginning to lay in color

The second day of color application

The completed painting is at the top of the post

A Sea of Untended Line

A Sea of Untended Line
14x18 oil on canvas

The completed image is at the top of the post

Greg LaRock workshop

The Estuary
16x20 oil on canvas

Just over a week ago I spent 4 days in a workshop with the landscape painter Greg LaRock. I have always felt that there are so many skilled painters recording the California landscape that I'd leave it to them and I'd focus on something different. But I so admire the work of Greg LaRock that I thought I would spend a little time looking over his shoulder to see how he develops his loose, painterly pieces that seem to capture the feel of a place in a very real way.

I couldn't have been more impressed with the generosity of Greg's spirit and the energy he poured into teaching. He enthusiastically shared his techniques, his favorite tools, the colors on his pallette and his methods of storing and working from photos. But, as always I learned the most from watching him paint. The sequence of decisions he made as he built his paintings was fascinating. If you ever have the chance to either study with or watch Greg paint, do it!

Untitled
9x12 oil on canvas

Untitled
9x12 oil on canvas