I have a number of works in a new exhibit at the Grenning Gallery in Sag Harbor, NY. Check it out if you’re in the area. There is no opening due to COVID, but the gallery is open normally.
The paintings were all done either en plein air in California, or later in my studio from studies.
Here are some photos of the paintings, for those of you who can’t make it:
Here a few of the sketches from Big Sur this week. Local painter Mark Farina showed me Garrapata Beach where I ended up painting a number of pieces (Garrapata means ‘tick’ in Spanish which is rather ironic since I spend most of my summers trying to avoid Lyme disease on Shelter Island).
Garrapata Cliffs. Oil on linen. 14 x 10 in.
Morning, Garrapata. Oil on linen, 10 x 14 in.
Big Sur has huge views. To get a decent composition you often need to capture about a 90 degree viewing angle, which is impossible to paint on a small panel using sight-size, even with one’s nose pressed up against it. Most sketches I do on small panels occupy about 30 to 50 degrees of my field of view (normal human filed of view is 160 to 200 degrees), and sight-size works perfectly in those instances.
Garrapata Surf. Oil on linen, 8 x 12 in.
To sight-size a 90 degree field of view would require about a 6 foot canvas to work on at a comfortable distance which, in high winds coming off the Pacific, would lead to a whole ‘nother set of logistical problems.
The following two sketches of Pfeiffer Beach, for example, completely fail to capture the grandeur of the scenery.
Pfeiffer Beach #1. Oil on linen, 10 x 14 in.
Pfeiffer Beach #2. Oil on linen, 8 x 12 in.
That last one especially would have been the guest of honor at the after-painting turps party, if it wasn’t for plan B: I’ve been doing detailed drawings at all these spots to figure out compositions and hopefully, between that, the color sketches, and reference photos, I’ll be able to make something of them in the studio.
In the meantime, I’m back to focusing on smaller views.
Monastery Beach. Oil on linen, 10 x 14 in.
Point Lobos Sketch. Oil on linen, 10 x 14 in.
I’m using very the very nice (and expensive) Classens-mounted-on-dibond panels from New Traditions, and a mix of M Graham, Old Holland, and Williamsburg colors. I find that some colors are better than others across brands.