October Oak 12 x 12 Plein Air watercolor

October Oak 12 x 12

I ran out of Q Burnt Orange while painting this one.
The importance of the bits of blue green ( I used manganese blue hue and cobalt turquoise for the blue green color patches.) to contrast with the warm autumn colors is what I was concerned with colorwise .
The distance away I was standing was important , it allowed me to see the larger shapes and not try to paint every leaf.

Hollister Peak Morning, Hollister Peak Afternoon, Port San Luis , Plein Air watercolors from San Luis Obispo

Hollister Peak Morning 14 x 21

Hollister Peak Afternoon 14 x 21

Port San Luis  10 x 16

After a few tries, I was able to paint Hollister Peak in San Luis Obispo. The peak is so close to the coast that it is frequently covered with fog.

This was a good chance to look at the effects of morning vs afternoon light on the same subject. The peak was famously painted by William Wendt as " Where Natures God hath Wrought ". I am happy to have my own versions of this subject.

The afternoon version of this was a challenge, I usually paint in the morning. The colors were cooler and closer together in value in the afternoon.

 Port San Luis was a wonderful place to pull over with the beach next to me and the ridge in front of me.
I was directly across from the entrance to another Diablo, Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.

"Fresh Greens" on Exhibit at the 14th Annual National Juried Exhibition of the American Impressionists Society until Oct 30th

"Fresh Greens" 18 x 24

And in the plein air style frame, with museum glass.

2013 American Impressionist Society’s

14th Annual National Juried Exhibition

M Gallery of Fine Art

Charleston, South Carolina

September 28–October 30, 2013

I will be at the receptions in Charleston on October 3rd and 4th.

The American Impressionists Society has published the entire catalog of 200 paintings online here:

http://americanimpressionistsociety.org/s2013.html 

 I am thrilled to be a part of the exhibition.

Sonoma Plein Air 2013: Paintings

Quick Draw "Hillside" 5 x 7 sold

Faun Colored Hill, Chileno Valley 12 x16

Late Light12 x 16

Windbreak, Chileno Valley 12 x 12 sold

Bennett Valley Morning 12 x 12 sold

A Gathering of Oaks 12 x 12

Schlocken Hill 9 x 12

Sonoma Plein Air Art Sale, Saturday Sept 21st 10-4

I am packing up, preparing frames ,paper and palette for the Sonoma Plein Art Art Festival starting next Monday. There is a gala dinner  and auction on Friday night and an all day art sale in the plaza on Saturday.
This is one of the best run plein air events around and it attracts very talented artists. I am thrilled to be painting in this festival .

Here's a link to the artists

http://sonomapleinair.com/artists.html

and one of my favorite  recent Sonoma  Plein Air Paintings

Sonoma Morning Haze 12 x 12
and in the frame

Some thoughts on framing plein air watercolors

Lately I have been framing about  half my works without a mat, in Plein Air Style frames, with museum glass or plexi for glazing.
I think this works because my paintings are fairly saturated in value and don't have a lot of white paper.
 I do this frequently when I am exhibiting with mostly oil painters in exhibits or galleries. I don't know if this will be acceptable to watercolor societies as well,  I  will let you know what I find out!
The photographs are not as good as they could be, I originally took them for my own records and not for publication.
 Here are a few of my recently framed paintings:

Mission San Jose Morning 11 1/2 x 13 1/2. At the California Art Club "Along El Camino Real " Exhibit.
The photo dosen't show it but the frame is dark  red that shows off the painting well.

"Windswept" 14 x 14 At the Fairmont Gallery, Sonoma

Hill and VInes 12 x 12, At the Fairmont Gallery ,Sonoma (Sorry about the glare)

"On a Clear Day" 12 x 12 At my wonderful framers: FastFrame of Lafayette

Fresh Greens 18 x 24 , on it's way to the American Impressionist Society Exhibit