Simi peak late afternoon on a cool and cloudy day, May 24th 2016

Another unusual day, cool and cloudy almost with some rain!....i had planned to try and fit in a lunchtime painting, but it was not to be due to the overcast sky, so i kept hoping for late afternoon sun and sure enough around 4pm she decided to cast some light on the wonderful landscape!

i painted for about 1 hour 45 mins as the clouds scuttled across the hills, i was really just going for colour and values, as it was only a small canvas, but as the paint flowed i had to just put some extra touches in!

Here's the finished painting!

Lots to come!..Martin.

Woman in White at Beach, 12x16

..i had brushed in a background of the figure previously and completed a small study version, so now i can bust out some bigger brushes and have some fun...first 30 minutes always crucial in drawing and values, now to paint a bit thicker!

Chelsey at Leo Carrillo beach, plein air paintout August 2010

So this painting has been waiting to be finished for a while as i wasn't sure where to go next with it, but comparing it to my study on the day, which is the second one i completed as the sun broke through late morning and i had to stop the first study, i think its almost there, maybe a slighly foamier sea in the foreground and a little bit on the hands and i could call this done!...lets do it! :)

Two Young Ladies at the Beach

Late afternoon at the beach from late July, i had managed to paint them from life while i was doing a study of the headland, and i painted them onto a 6x8 inch to work out the poses more and see what i could do with the colour as it was laye afternoon, so i saw potential for pushing colour saturation more, but still find some of natures greys as there was moisture in the air which had a cooling effect even though the sun was low and clear!...

CAI Nude Figure in warm light, from June 30th 2004

..Having painted so many figure paintings at the school here in thousand oaks, this one deserved to be stretched and finished once and for all!!...14x18 inches on canvas board.

Figure of a Woman in an Orchard, 5x7 Inches Oil on canvas, Aug 5th 2015

...so i gessoed a load of older canvases last week, and this was in the back of my mind, so while waiting for a few others to dry i thought i would do this as a fun warm up exercise!!...yes just like going to the gym, we sometimes need to step back and loosen up, have a sense of dare, break the mould, and sometimes out of this fearlessness come triumph!!...its been a good day! :)

Mount Boney at Sunset, Bigger Version!

Been wanting to do a bigger version of my plein air study, so this morning ive alotted myself enough time to resolve some design issues and if i end up doing a 30x40 of it, so here goes!!