by Marc Dalessio

Maine Paintings

Below are some of my paintings from the last week in mid-coast Maine.

Plein air painting of Broad Cove, Maine.

Osier Dr, Broad Cove, Maine. 11 x 14 in.

Painting of fishermen in Friendship, Maine.

Fishing, Friendship. 12 x 8 in.

Plein air painting of a boatyard in Round Pond, Maine.

Boatyard, Round Pond. 11 x 14 in.

Plein air painting of Round Pond, Maine.

Parking Lot, Round Pond. 8 x 12 in.

Plein air painting of a road in Friendship, Maine.

Road to the Town Landing, Friendship.

Plein air painting of a sailboat in Rockport, Maine.

Sailboat, Rockport. 12 x 8 in.

Plein air painting from outside of Waldoboro, Maine.

Grey Day on the 32. 8 x 12 in.

It was my first time painting in Maine and I have to say it’s one of the best places I’ve ever painted. The weather has been great, sunny but cool most of the time, the people are incredibly friendly and knowledgable about plein air painting, and there is a great wealth of stunningly picturesque places to work.

Plein air painting of a dock in Friendship, Maine.

Dock in Friendship. 8 x 12 in.

Plein air painting of Friendship, Maine.

Friendship, Maine. 11 x 14 in.

I have an opening tonight at Haynes Gallery in Thomaston, Maine. It’s actually a few group shows. My ‘group’ consists of Karen Blackwood, T. J. Cunningham, Ben Fenske, Greg Howitch, Leo Mancini-Hresko, Joseph McGurl and myself.

Joseph McGurl was a big influence on my work when I was first starting out as a landscape painter (and still is), so it’s great to be showing with him.

Plein air landscape painting of Haynes Gallery in Maine.

Haynes Gallery, Thomaston. 8 x 12 in.

I’ll also be giving a painting demonstration at 3:30 pm, if you happen to be in the area.

Plein air painting of a street in Thomaston, Maine.

Afternoon Shadows, Thomaston. 8 x 12 in.

by Marc Dalessio

California Central Coast Plein Air Paintings

Below are some paintings from the Central Coast of California over the last ten days. I was based in Carmel Valley, but moved down the coast quite a bit.

Plein air painting of Green Valley, Cambria.

Green Valley, Cambria. 32 x 40 in.

Plein air landscape painting of Big Sur, California.

Big Sur. 32 x 40 in., oil on linen.

These first two paintings were quite large so I tied the canvases to the ubiquitous barbed wire fences to keep them steady in the high winds. I picked up a lightweight rope-and-plastic-carabiner combo from Nite Ize at a local camping store and the system worked perfectly.

Plein air landscape painting set up in Big Sur, California.

My set-up in Big Sur.

Plein air painting of a model standing in rye grass.

Rye Grass. 40 x 32 in., oil on linen.

One great thing about painting in the Monterey area is that there is a handful of world-class plein air artists who live there to paint with. On the above painting I worked with John Burton, and the sketch below is of Mark Farina, who we painted with one morning south of Carmel.

Plein air painting of an artist working in Carmel.

Mark Farina painting at Monastery Beach, Carmel. 8 x 12 in.

Plein air painting of the hills near Hearst Castle.

Hearst Castle Hills. 11 x 14 in., oil on linen.

Plein air painting of San Carpoforo beach.

San Carpoforo Beach. 8 x 12 in., oil on linen.

Plein air painting of Notley's Landing, Big Sur, California.

Cows at Notleys Landing. 8 x 12 in., oil on linen.

I’ve always felt I became a landscape painter because of growing up surrounded by the beauty of California, so it’s great to get back there and paint when I can.

Plein air painting of a patio in Carmel Valley, California.

My Folk’s Patio. 8 x 12 in., oil on linen.

Update: We stopped and painted for a bit in Lake Tahoe on our way out of California. Here are a couple images:

Plein air oil painting of the Tahoe Princess on Lake Tahoe.

Tahoe Princess. 8 x 12 in.

Plein air painting of a street in South Lake Tahoe, California.

Street in South Lake Tahoe. 8 x 12 in.

by Marc Dalessio

Carbon Fiber Painting Gear

In my quest for a lighter and more portable plein air set-up I’m currently experimenting with a carbon fiber photography tripod and paint box.

Sirui tripod for plein air landscape painting.

My current camera tripod set-up.

The camera tripod I settled on is a Sirui T-025X with their C-10X ball head. It was originally recommended to me by plein air painter Paul Rafferty who has used one to great success for a year now. Sirui is a Chinese company who, apparently, used to make photo equipment for Gitzo (the very expensive Italian company) and are now making tripods with their own brand name. The tripod folds up to be tiny and weighs only 1.54 lb (0.7 kg) -slightly less than the Fome aluminum easel I’ve been using for a while. (For anyone thinking of getting the Sirui, you can find one on Amazon and support my site).

The tiny Sirui T-025x all folded up.

Sirui T-025x. Banana for scale.

To use sight-size one’s panel or canvas should ideally be at eye-level. This puts the surface quite high off the ground where stability becomes an issue. On the other hand, after years of working on canvas, I don’t really mind a little give while I’m applying paint. Even with my extremely light backpack hanging off the supplied carabiner, this set-up becomes stable enough for me to paint comfortably.

Sirui tripod for a painting easel.

The mast bolted to the Sirui quick-release plate.

I also don’t like the pochade-box-on-camera-tripod system that most plein air painters use. With sight-size it means the paints are right under my nose. The solution for me is to use a mast to get the panel high enough, and attach the paint box to the bottom. For the mast of this set-up I picked up a pre-made carbon fiber slat, drilled a hole with a 1/4″ drill-bit, and bolted it to the quick-release plate of the Sirui. The Sirui quick-release plate has screw threads out, so one can switch to a longer bolt without permanently affecting the tripod. One could drill a hole in the aluminum or steel mast of the Fome easels and get an even stiffer design. I settled on a shorter mast to be able to pack it in a suitcase easily. With the taller camera tripod it is still big enough for my 11″ x 14″ (25 x 35 cm) panels in a vertical position, even if I have the easel set up downhill.

Carbon fiber painting box for plein air landscape painting.

Carbon fiber ‘cigar box’ palette.

I’d love to be able to triumphantly declare that the carbon fiber painting box was a great success and is the future of plein air painting equipment. Unfortunately, after an annoying amount of time and money spent, I have to admit that a $5 dollar Ebay cigar-box works just as well. Leo Mancini-Hresko has written a good blog post on making one. The carbon fiber isn’t any lighter or sturdier, and it lacks the charm to boot.

Carbon fiber cigar box style palette.

Carbon fiber painting box.

by Marc Dalessio

East End Paintings and Grenning Show

Plein air painting of the dock at Sag Harbor.

Dock at Sag Harbor from the Bridge. 11 x 14 in, oil on linen.

The opening reception was this Saturday for my annual solo show at the Grenning Gallery. There was some press for the show, including an excellent article on me in the Sag Harbor Express and a piece on Underpaintings.

For anyone in the area, you can also pick up a copy of the Spring edition of The Southhampton Review which has some of my paintings in it (including one on the cover).

Painting of Sag Harbor.

Sag Harbor. 11 x 14 in, oil on linen.

I painted for a few days out on the East End before the show opened as well.

Painting of the American Hotel in Sag Harbor.

The American Hotel and Municipal Building. 12 x 8 in, oil on linen.

Painting of Bay Point, Sag Harbor, Long Island.

Bay Point. 11 x 14 in, oil on linen.

Plein air landscape painting of a boatyard in East Hampton.

Boatyard, East Hampton. 11 x 14 in, oil on linen.

I always find the boatyards very interesting. There are a lot of great views around the boatyards on Three Mile Harbor in East Hampton and the owners and managers were very friendly towards me when I was looking for places to paint.

Painting of a Station Wagon in a boat yard in East Hampton.

Station Wagon. 8 x 12 in, oil on linen.

Painting of a fisherman in Sag Harbor.

Fisherman, Sag Harbor. 8 x 12 in, oil on linen.

Plein air painting of boats in Sag Harbor.

Sag Harbor Boats. 11 x 14 in, oil on linen.

Plein air painting of North Haven.

North Haven. 8 x 12 in, oil on panel.

by Marc Dalessio

July in New York City

Plein air landscape painting of the Jeff Koons Sculpture at the World Trade Center.

Koons Sculpture at the World Trade Center. 8 x 12 in, oil on panel.

Here are few plein air paintings from the last week in New York. I was staying in Tribeca and painted a bit in the neighborhood.

Plein air painting of Church Street in Tribeca.

Church Street. 12 x 8 inches, oil on panel.

It was pretty quiet downtown for the July 4th weekend, and the city had a wonderfully empty feel to it. I also went up to 5th Avenue on the morning of the 4th to paint the flags on Rockefeller Center.

Plein air painting of the flags on Fifth Avenue.

Flags on Fifth Avenue. 8 x 12 inches, oil on panel.

And we painted a bit in Central Park.

New Yorkers have an undeserved reputation for being rude to tourists, but I find it one of my favorite places to paint. The locals always seem so appreciative and respectful of plein air painters.

Painting of a bubble-blower in Central Park.

Bubble Blower, Central Park. 11 x 14 inches, oil on panel.

Plein air painting of a Saxophonist in Central Park.

Saxophonist, Central Park. 12 x 8 inches, oil on panel.

Plein air painting of the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park.

The Bethesda Fountain. 12 x 8 inches, oil on panel.