Above Sonoma, 20 x 16 Studio version of plein air painting

Above Sonoma 20 x 16.

And here's the original piece:

Sonoma Valley Vertigo 17 x 14

Which do you prefer? I am still deciding.

Curve of the Earth- on the Cover of the November Issue of The Monthly

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Cover | Robin Purcell

The Curve of the Earth (watercolor painting, 2009). Robin Purcell, best known for her paintings of Mt. Diablo, created this watercolor in conjunction with the 2009 Mt. Diablo and Mt. Fuji Invitational Exhibit at the Hearst Gallery of St. Mary’s College in Moraga. “The open space of the parks in the East Bay is very important to my work,” says Purcell, who works exclusively in watercolor. “Mt. Diablo in particular is an island of peace in an otherwise crowded suburban setting.” A plein air artist “who goes outside to see colors and shapes from life and organize it into shimmering patches of color,” Purcell references the California impressionists as influences. Also, she jokes, she “was probably permanently warped by doing paint-by-numbers as a child.” Purcell holds a bachelor of fine arts from the University of Connecticut. To see more of her paintings online, visit robinpurcellpaints.blogspot.com.


The above is the nice write up they gave my work on the inside front cover.

Here is a link to the online version of The Monthly
http://www.themonthly.com/previous/2010/1011.html 
I was thrilled to be asked to contribute a cover image, last Month's cover was by Milton Glaser, a long time favorite of mine.

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Sonoma Plein Air Event 2009

Sonoma Hillside Tapestry 14 x 14

Bartholemew Park 12 x 16

Vineyard Verde (Near El Verona) 11 x 14

Lovall Valley View 14 x 11 sold

New Vines Sonoma 14 x 14 sold

May was a very busy month with two plein air events. Here are five of the six paintings I displayed at the sale. The last one is on my easel being tweaked right now.

Despite the challenging weather ( rain through Wednesday afternoon) I feel good about the finished paintings . Bartholemew Park was done in the rain, with my painting under an umbrella and me under an oak and a rain hat. I did a lot of positive reinforcement on these, saying you've got all week, just take your time, because the rain slowed the drying time so dramatically.

Lovall Valley View was painted Wednesday late afternoon just as the clouds were finally lifted. It is the backyard view of the beautiful property where I stayed . I liked the light and dark shadow patterns on the hill and the grasslands half green half gold mixture.

Sonoma Hillside Tapestry and Near El Verona were both painted at Vadez Winery on the sunny day on Thursday and New Vines was painted up the hill from Anderson Ranche's lovely lunch.

Valona Paint Out

The first week of November there was a paint out in Crockett sponsored by the Epperson Gallery. It was a good thing we had a whole week because the weather switched from warm and sunny to cold and rainy a couple of times. I got to paint three of the days. I did two paintings I am happy with and one flipper. Here are the two keepers:
McEwen's Jewels 14 x 14 
Painted on McEwen Rd on the way to Port Costa on a sunny day. I presume the ranch there is McEwen's Ranch and the black cows were persistent in trying to get me to give them food. I suppose my white SUV looked like a rancher's truck. It was interesting that when I brought this painting to the gallery, I realized my interpretation of eucalyptus trees owes much to those mop- headed trees in the Dr Suess books.
Crockett Roller Coaster 11 x 8
As an experiment, I decided to try something very different, a Wayne Thiebaud inspired scene looking up at the steepest hill in town. Sort of the opposite of Valley Vertigo, looking up instead of down. It was fun to try to get the atmosphere of the light reflecting on the pavement and to push the colors but not too far. From a design standpoint I wanted to see how large the road could be and how little of the stuff around it I could include and have it still read road. It reminds me of taking the girls into San Francisco and taking them up and down the hills for thrills when they were MUCH younger.
This sold one during the reception. The exhibit lasted only two days, but there was some really fine work by Leslie Wilson ( First Prize) Tim Horn (Artists' Choice) Linda Sutton (Honorable Mention) Mamie Walters (Second Prize- I think ) Mary Lou Correia and Tara Keefe.The Epperson Gallery is done with a major remodel and looks good. It is located at 1400 Pomona Street in Crockett and the web site is http://eppersongallery.com/

Plein Air Painting Demonstration / San Vincente Canyon , Davenport

San Vincente Canyon, Davenport 14 x 14 watercolor on arches

I often get asked how I paint all those shapes. I usually use a high horizon as a starting point. With atmospheric perspective, the distant hills usually (but not always) have the lightest values. Because I paint standing up with a vertical board, painting from top to bottom also helps as a practical matter to allow me to correct the occasional drip. Above are three stages of a painting I just finished painted near Davenport just north of Santa Cruz.