Plein Air Painting in Monterey, Day 4 (AM)

Every moment is filled. There are too many places to see, too many people to meet, too many places to paint. So, today’s blog will only show the morning painting session on Day 4.

Roomie and I skipped the morning announcements and found our way to the Carmel Mission. I love those 21 missions and give the credit to my 4th grade teacher at Ivanhoe Elementary School. I drew the Carmel Mission a long time ago.

The mission seems to be more of a museum than a church now , not opening until 10 a.m., and charging admission, so Roomie and I set up behind an elevated cross where we could look over the wall into the courtyard.

I propped my borrowed easel minus a tripod on the wall, and started with a horizontal format.

Nope, the tower was too tall so I flipped the canvas around. Looks square in this photo, but it is vertical, 8×10″.

This is the view, and that tree blocked the rose window. Nothing to be done except to try and paint the tree.

Roomie and I painted together, and I quit before she did. She is accustomed to plein air painting and knows how to push through to a completed painting whereas I reach a point where I just give up, figuring on fixing all the messed up places later.

So, while I waited for her, I walked to the gate and held the camera on the other side of the slats for this photo.

There were so many flowers in bloom in the garden, both inside the gate and outside. This is Lady Banks rose, which blooms in about April in Three Rivers.

Check out the matiliha (matilija? matilijah?) poppies!

Good enough. I want to finish this at home, get all the architectural details right and fix that dominant tree. I don’t know why it was so hard. I texted my friend JC this observation: plein air is desperately difficult.

But I KNOW I can make this painting look better (when I can reclaim my life and have some uninterrupted studio time!)

One last photo, and then we headed to our next destination for afternoon painting. I think I could fill two weeks of just painting at the Carmel Mission (and then taking them all home to fix).

Plein Air Painting in Monterey, Day 3

Day three was a test of my gear: could I fit what I needed into my trusty red daypack and carry my 3-legged stool under one arm and the loaner pochade box in my other hand along a trail?

Yeppers.

We started at Garrapata State Park, along the bluffs on Highway One.

We painted all morning, then headed to Point Lobos. (I wonder if there were ever wolves there??) We were hot and tired after several hours of painting in the sun, but my roommate said that I HAD to see China Cove (she had done reconnaissance the previous day).

Well holy guacamole, it was spectacular! Several people, including my roomie, stopped at a particular spot, but I wanted to explore a bit farther. Look at these options!

A
B
C

A blew me away with the color, and it was where my little group set up. B was my first choice, but there was no place to set up without blocking the trail. (We were warned that we’d get a ticket if we blocked the trail or set up off the trail.) C was also quite intriguing, but again, there was a lack of set-up space. I also considered another place because it had a bench, but the view was meh compared to those first three.

So, I ventured back to my little group and just got in line because there was space and there was shade.

This photo doesn’t do justice to the green-blue of the water.

I was contending with the cable at the edge of the trail.

I didn’t take a good final photo. I’ll have to finish and scan it when I get home so you can see it.

It was a good painting day, almost finishing 2 paintings, with only detail left to really polish them off. Thursday is a day in and around Carmel.

P.S. There are so many other things about this adventure to share besides my painting progression and locations. I might continue the series next week after I am back home.

Plein Air Painting in Monterey, Day 1

On Day 1, we stayed at Asilomar. People needed to get accustomed to their equipment, the schedule, the weather, the whole situation, so it made sense to stay on the premises, which are walking distance to the ocean.

Our room is so tiny that I am keeping my supplies in the trunk of the car. After assembling what I thought would be useful for the morning painting session, I headed to the beach. My easel is heavy and cumbersome, so when I saw this, I thought it might be a good place to paint.

But the ocean was calling me, so I soldiered onward.

Is that PEBBLE BEACH, the fancy golf course over there??

After walking around a bit, taking a few photos, and thinking about the options, I did one quick sketch to confirm my choice.

Next, I wrestled with my heavy, rebellious excuse of an easel, finally getting it situated.

Here is a series of progression photos.

The painting was interspersed by conversation with passersby and other painters. We were told that it is best to not look at other people’s work while painting because it causes discontent and do-overs. As a result, there was much joking about wiping off canvas and starting again after seeing other’s efforts.

Painters were set up all along the beach.

The painting session was also interrupted by occasional walks into the water.

The kelp was very thick, and although I didn’t see a single shell, I did encounter this jellyfish.

I took one final useless photo, thinking it would show me the scene in order to finish the painting later. Alas, it was too bright out to see the screen of the camera, hence the “useless” description.

I didn’t really like my painting, but I couldn’t figure out how to make it better and it was hot. Didn’t matter, because this is all about practicing and learning. So, I headed to the other spot that I had chosen in the morning. It was in the shade, rather chilly, which was a nice change. An employee of Asilomar stopped by where several of us were setting up to remind us of the “excessive heat warning”. I almost fell down laughing but managed to restrain myself.

I’m liking this one and will definitely finish it later. I even got one final useful photo because I was able to see the screen of the camera. (Okay, not so useful. You can see how the light changes over the course of 2 hours.)

However, I am wondering where to buy a new easel and if I can find a trash can large enough to accommodate this sorry excuse of a plein air easel.

More will be revealed. . .

Travel Thoughts

Today (writing on Sunday night) I drove 242 miles to Asilomar, a conference center on the Monterey Peninsula for Fall Color Week, a private painting retreat with PleinAir Magazine’s Publisher Eric Rhoads and about 100 strangers. I got lost on the way, because it is sometimes nay, always tricky to both navigate and drive. I couldn’t get the talking lady to work, couldn’t find myself on a map, so I just resorted to commonsense, kept my sense of direction, and here I am.

Traveling by car means space isn’t very limited. I am used to traveling light, doing without, and making do, but this time I just kept adding things as I thought of them. More shoes, more pants, another sweater, another tool, another book, on and on and on. Ridiculous.

First impressions: beautiful building, long line, friendly people in line.

A friend polished my headlights and then helped me wash Fernando the day before I left. Didn’t matter, we were still shown very little respect on the freeways. Why is it that going 70 in a 65 still brings tailgating and contempt? I may have been imagining the contempt part. . .

This is the Stuck-Up Inn, where my room is.

This is a drive I’m not used to, (duh, I got lost) so the scenery was interesting. Why are there no boats on the San Luis Reservoir? What will happen to all the orchards of dead almond trees? Those golden hills against the blue sky would sure be worth painting, but there is no place to turn off the highway. Why is there so much litter? Where are all these people going?

The beach is walking distance

I have been to Asilomar before. About 15 years ago, a friend and I came to Monterey for the Big Sur marathon (we walked the 9-miler) and then we came here so I could gawk at these beautiful Craftsman style buildings, designed by Julia Morgan. Wow.

The dining hall (great food so far).

One thing that was a little worrisome was rooming with a stranger. No problem! Liesl and I are immediately compatible. . . she was very relieved that I get up early in the morning, and I echo that relief. The room is very small, so it won’t be easy to tiptoe around. She might go out painting first thing; I most likely will go for a walk (THE BEACH!!)

The backside of the room where we registered.

Monday morning we will be painting close to the conference grounds so we can get used to packing our gear and learning to use it. All the people are very genuinely friendly, and many have participated in these events before.

A quick stroll down to the beach after dinner.

So, I will be posting whenever I can find time and have something to show you.

The grounds have good walkways and adequate lighting. HOWEVER, all the buildings look alike, the lanes are curvy, and it is a confusing place of 107 acres. I’ll get it figured out this week.

Tightening Up Plein Air Paintings

This past summer I painted plein air (on location) in Mineral King for the first time in about a dozen years. The results were mixed; I wasn’t fully satisfied with 2 of the paintings.

So, I put them back on the easels last month and tightened up the details. Can you see the difference?

Before
After – Crowley Cabin, 8×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, $125
Before
After – Empire and Cabins, 8×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, sold

There are always more things I could have done. (Time for me to stop looking at these.) And be assured, they always look better in person.

Watching a Master Paint in Mineral King, Part 3

Marty and discussed the weirdly shaped juniper. The light on the edge of it was compelling, and he decided to put it in, but not the same size as it is in real life. The trouble with that scene in real life is that there are 4 trees, all in a line, all the same height and evenly spaced. If it were painted that way, it might look like a sad little orchard rather than a natural scene.

When he added the light on the edge, the tree came alive (not literally on the canvas but you know what I mean, yes?)

We discussed the Honeymoon Cabin. Marty didn’t know what it was, and his wife and I convinced him it was important to include, especially because the painting is to be a wedding gift for a couple who knows Mineral King.

He worked his way down into the lower reaches of the painting, which looked like a daunting amount of real estate to me.

We discussed the snow patch on the side of Vandever, which is important enough to have a name – Bearskin. It is often speculated about during the summers as we wonder how long the snow will last. The addition of Bearskin made it necessary to add the remaining snow right below Farewell Gap. He also added in Falcon Peak, which is really just the headwall of White Chief Canyon (to the right of Vandever).

Marty also did some reshaping and tightening up of the accuracy of some of the shapes. Because he paints in a loose and impressionist style, this surprised me. But, his scenes are always recognizable, so of course he wants the shapes to be correct. We talked about the top of Vandever, which wasn’t visible from where we stood, and I was able to tell him that the top is jagged and it is taller than West Florence on the left side of the gap.

We discussed the vegetation, and he made some visual notes so he would know how to finish things later in his studio.

On Monday, I’ll tell you some of the many things I learned from watching Martin Weekly, master plein air oil painter paint in Mineral King.

Watching a Master Paint in Mineral King

Martin Weekly, AKA Marty, is a master plein air painter and a friend. Recently he painted in Mineral King, and I had the privilege of watching over his shoulder.

He set up in a place that wasn’t highly visible to the public, although we did have a few observers who watched briefly (and one who asked some annoying questions when he was trying to concentrate, which is just part of the job.)

Marty set up his easel at a place and time that he scouted on the previous day.
See? Barely visible.

He set up his supplies and began painting. I was astonished to see that his methods and materials are completely different from that of Laurel Daniel, an equally accomplished painter who taught the workshop that I attended in Georgia in April.

His palette contains colors I’ve never seen used before instead of the primaries, as I learned from several sources.
His canvas is HUGE compared to what Laurel uses in the field, and he referred to it as “small”!
He began by toning the entire canvas with burnt sienna mixed with turpentine; Laurel uses linseed oil and doesn’t “tone” the canvas.
He began drawing the scene with the same color; Laurel blocks it in with a mixture of burnt sienna and french ultramarine.

I was greatly reassured when he had to do the outline several times and completely erased it once. This guy is truly a master, and to know he also doesn’t always get it right the first time gave me hope.

Come back in two days for more of my session with Marty.