Common Teri

Photographing in the Rain

2012-02-13T22:03:00.000-08:00

Hurray we finally got some winter rain here in Mariposa CA, We really need it. Been a long dry spell for winter so this has been a very welcome little storm.

I love how the rain washes everything off. The pine needles are a bright burnt sienna verging on red. Most of the blackberry bushes have lost their leaves but those that are left are bright red as well. The dry grasses have lost their fall gold and look more like straw now and with the little bit of rain we had earlier the new grasses are sprouting bright green.

The bright green moss on the trees and rocks is loving the rain and the lichen on the rocks is happy too.

People often think of rainy days as gloomy and grey, but if you look at things like rocks after they've been wet you start to notice just how much more colorful they are when wet.

Living so close to Yosemite sometimes forget just how beautiful the surrounding communities can be. Lately I've been reconnecting with this place (Mariposa) that I call home. We don't have the huge waterfalls and giant cliffs or the Park but we still have beautiful scenery.

In fact every time I go down one of this counties many dirt roads I'm rewarded with the gentle charm of this place.

Today I took a break from painting and went in search of more subjects to photograph and paint. It's not like I'm running low on great material from previous outings. I just love getting out in nature and taking it all in. I'm like some greedy sponge that can't seem to absorb enough of it.

The rain was light today so I went out hoping to find some good pics between showers. Fortunately no one else was out where I was so no one saw me with my camera under my jacket making my belly look bigger than it already is. It was my way of protecting from the drizzle while I water the creek looking for interesting places to set my tripod down. Once I'd find a good spot I'd wait for a lull and snap the camera on and take some pics.

The light was low so I was using slow exposure times to try and capture all the color. My camera isn't as great as some of the pros but for my purposes which is mainly for painting reference it's perfect. But sometimes I wish I had something a little better. My aperture only goes to F.8 and my time is 15" which I'm not quite sure what that means.

One day I hope to be able to afford a better camera but for now I feel pretty fortunate enough to have the one I have.A (Cannon SX40). It's basically a sophisticated point and shoot. Which sounds a whole lot better than a digital SLR wannabe. :o)

Pastel Portrait of Kori

2012-02-03T18:08:00.000-08:00

Patel of Kori Feb 2, 2012

Portrait Friday at the Gertrude School House in Ahwahnee. This was a fun challenge because Kori has very light skin and the white gown was reflecting back on her, giving that wonderful reflective. I still seem to be having trouble getting the results I want. If I could only channel John Singer Sargent.

I almost didn't go today because I have a challenging little painting of the Rte 49 Mariposa pond almost done. But when I saw it was going to be Kori, well, who can miss a chance to paint such beauty.Two gorgeous models in a row. From the beautiful olive skinned beauty Cheyenne to creamy skinned Kori. Not that I don't love painting great weathered faces. It's all good.

Speaking or classic weathered faces. We just lost another one of our great models to cancer. John Erhart had that classic look that inspired us all to do better. We'll miss you John. Thanks for entertaining us with your guitar and being the kind of pleasant soul we all could aspire to be.

11 x 14 Acrylic of John Erhart

Bailey Flats Photos

2012-02-02T10:46:00.000-08:00

When ever the clouds look good I grab my camera and head out. Where I head depends on the time of day, the direction the clouds are going and how much gas I have.

Sadly we haven't had much cloud action lately. So when the clouds aren't happening I tend to look head towards the creeks, rivers, and ponds.

Two days ago I was out driving some of Mariposa's many dirt roads and lost my cell phone. It's designed so it will go 500 miles an hour with as little wind resistance as possible. Unfortunately this aerodynamic design makes it a slippery enough to work it's way out of one's pockets.

Suppose I shouldn't be putting pretty little river rocks in my pocket. You see they tend to head to the bottom pushing the phone toward the top.

So what does this have to do with the Bobcat?

Well thought I'd retrace my steps the next day and see if I could find it. Never did but wound up spotting a couple Bobcats playing in gully. Took these from my car. He actually started coming toward me. So I got the second closer shot.

The area is called Bailey Flats and has a lot of rolling hills covered in oaks, cows, horses, quail, and ground squirrels. Did I forget to mention you have to watch constantly where you walk?

The barn on the left was built in 1942. Met one of the ranchers who filled me in on some of the history of the place. We had a nice long talk and he invited me to come back any time. His family has one of Mariposa's longest streets named after them. Westfall. He owns about 260 acres there. Then there's his sister and cousins who pretty much comprise most of the area.

Apparently he also went to the old Gertrude school that the YWA (Yosemite Western Artists) now use as our club house. Lots of interesting history in these foothills.

The great news is that someone found my aerodynamic phone down there and it will soon be back in my possession. Now back to painting.

The start of the Chowchilla River Series

2012-01-30T12:02:00.000-08:00

Started a new series of paintings based on the Chowchilla river and it's tributaries. It all started with a trip down into the foothills near where I live. Neighbor, artist, and friend Charlotte Hoffman and I went to the nearby Ahwahnee Hills Park to join some plein aire painters. Only we went early to catch the morning light with out cameras.

I tend to prefer working from photographs when painting outside scenes because the light changes too fast. Lighting is everything for me and it's more comfortable working at home where I can adjust my photos, listen to music and take a break in my easy chair when I want. Plus some times the weather is just to inhospitable to sit outside and paint.

Coming back from our morning photo session I was telling Charlotte that I wished there was a way to explore more of the foothills closer to where we live. She told me of one her and her husband David had discovered and asked if I wanted to go check it out. It was amazing and I wrote about it earlier. This painting of the lake Eastman was inspired from that photo trip.

Was talking about how beautiful the foothills by Lake Eastman were when the model at out Friday portrait painting group says you should come check out my ranch near there. So a few of us did just that.

This painting of his section of the Chowchilla river was inspired from that day. It was a great place to go river rock hunting, He said he fished there and also panned for gold.

Frustration with Faces

2012-01-28T15:12:00.000-08:00

Last couple sessions with the portrait group I've been feeling very frustrated with my pastel sketches. I like pastels because their much faster when working from life but their also quite messy. Having lost my main boxes of portrait pastels I've had to resort to a jumble box of broken bits where you can't tell what color they are until you wipe them off. If you don't wipe them off real good you can wind up making a dark mark where you hoping for a light one.

So that's frustrating but sometimes I just feel like I'm not really getting the pose or likeness. Sometimes I don't care about the likeness as much as the feeling.

Last Friday we had one of my favorite models Cheyenne. A lovely beauty who reminds of an indian princess. Yet her peasant blouse put me in mind of a pretty senorita. So that is how I drew her. Here's two drawings from the same angle. Just approaching the lay in a bit different.

The one on the left is the first one with a more traditional drawing lay in. The one on the right I focused more on the color shapes avoiding any drawing till the end. I tried using blue and green mixed into the shadows to compliment all the lighter gold skin colors.

Happy Year of the Dragon

2012-01-23T12:27:00.000-08:00

2012 is the Chinese New Year of the Dragon as of today. So to celebrate I thought I'd dig up some of the dragons I've illustrated over the years.

This is my first commissioned dragon from back in the early 80's. I was fresh out of art school and fortunate enough to get some fairly steady jobs doing video covers. This was used in the logo of a Kung Fu movie. It was done in airbrush and Prisma Color pencils.

I Had studied oriental art history at East LA City College which really helped me flesh out the design on this one. A very fun piece to do and one I still own.

Years later Sierra On-Line up in Oakhurst CA offered me a job in their Creative Services / Marketing department. We had just become parents of twins and were happy as could be to get out of the crime invested, smoggy, congested LA area.

I had never worked on a computer before but was given one to learn on. At one point they switched us to Apple computers, Photoshop 1 wasn't yet available on standard PC's nor was the main publishing tool of Quark Xpress.

While experimenting with Photoshop I realized it was also a great painting tool. It was extremely clumsy using a mouse to paint and draw with but when I showed my bosses what I could do with it they allowed me to do the Quest for Glory 1 remake cover completely in Photoshop. This is how it came out. Probably one of the first published illustrations done completely in Photoshop. Circa 1992.

Our department also did ads for magazines and this dragon eye with the hero reflected in it was one of them. The tag line was "on second thought maybe you don't want to be a hero". Fortunately they got me a Waccom drawing tab around this time and it made illustrating in Photoshop a ton easier. I have to admit I stole this concept from MC Escher.

My style of drawing dragons will probably always be heavily influenced by Chinese dragons and my first interpretation of them. This blue one was another done completely in Photoshop.

One of the things I loved about painting on the computer was no more breathing paint from airbrushing. I remember one of my early tries of painting a big sky with airbrush and blowing blue snot out my nose. Not a healthy thing for one's lungs considering the carcinogens in paints.

One of the last computer game companies I worked for was the U.S. division of Codemaster's. While learning Maya 3D and making elements for a virtual world I was asked to design a logo for a MMRPG called Dragon Empire. After some quick pencil sketches I rendered this design in Adobe Illustrator, a vector based art tool. Vector drawing allows one to design images that can be blown up to any size without any loss of detail. There's no pixels involved. Great tool for graphic designers doing logo and text editing. It gives one nice crisp edges.

This was the last dragon image I ever painted in Photoshop. One I did just for my own amusement. Still shows the strong influence from my first Chinese dragon. Haven't done any fantasy sci/fi for a long time. now. I still admire those who do.Maybe one day I'll do some again.

My current art has been focusing on local landscapes. I love painting with a brush and acrylics. My only complaint about doing things the old fashioned way is not having an undo button. :o)

Headdress

2012-01-14T19:23:00.000-08:00

We had a Cowboy with a mustache wearing a indian chief headress. Never saw an indian with a mustache so I drew him without it. It was one of those rare times I preferred moving to a profile postion. Normally I strive to get a likeness but this time I made the features fit more in the guise of an indian chief.

The second sketch I was able to move over a bit for a slight 3/4 view. The costume didn't quite seem right on the model. I would have preferred him as a cowboy or in his civil war outfit.

A Visit with Abe Lincoln

2012-01-10T15:35:00.000-08:00

Last Friday we had a fellow named Wayne who is an Abe Lincoln Impersonator. He wasn't in costume this time but you can see a certain amount of resemblance. One lady said reminded her of an undertaker.

I think he'd look good as an Amish dutch man. He's a fairly tall bloke with a good sense of humor. A little corny at times but I like corn.

I forgot my little box of dirty pastels so all I had was a bag of blues and a small old selection of some fleshy colors. Nothing like starting your day of with a bag of blues.

I switched to a side location and found a piece of black pastel. He had switched to his glasses at this point. Suppose he was uncomfortable not being able to see who all was staring at him.

Wayne is a real character with lots of stories to tell, Not only does he travel the states doing Abe Lincoln but he served our country in Vietnam and was once a police officer. He also teaches traffic school for all those who would rather do that than may their traffic ticket.

Apparently he is also big into guns and target shooting. When asked if he ever hunted he said he gave up killing after Nam.

After my last sketch of Abe for the day I was talking about a painting I had started of Lake Eastman near Raymond. Raving about how beautiful the oaks were this time of year in the foothills. He said that his ranch was near there and invited me to come down and check it out after the session. I did and brought along photographer Lori Cole and artist Jaunita Smith. We had a good time taking picks at his ranch along the Chowchilla river. I'll show the painting from those pics in my next blog.

Making the Effort.

2012-01-08T11:48:00.000-08:00

Cheyene 20 minute sketch

I'm not giving up on this art blog yet. I'd rather be painting or out taking pictures but it's a good way to keep a record of one's artistic efforts. It's so easy to give up when no one seems to appreciate one's efforts.

This blog takes more effort because I want to say something meaningful. Words don't come as easy as making art and they're not as fun to put together. It would be easier to just post my various creative endeavors sans words but I always appreciate when others talk about their art. It's just try to say something more than, " I like to make da pretty picture." But sometimes that's all I can think to say.

Today I'm going to talk about the inspirations of other artists and how they influence my creative endeavors. I have many art blogs I follow. One artist I really enjoy for his portraits and rendering techniques is Scottish artist Derek Jones.

The pastel above was made under the influence of Derek's style. It was portrait day with the YWA artists and our model was one of my favorites. I love the way he captures feminine beauty Unlike Derek I was only using pastels that day. He uses a lot of mixed media where I'm guessing he must let the watercolor washes dry before adding pastel or pencil on top.

I'm using a cheap Canson paper pad and pastels. I also have a short attention span which causes me to get bored easy. This is something I have to constantly fight and can make it very difficult when working on a piece that takes very long to create. When I work on a painting for over two or three days it becomes extremely tedious and it becomes work instead of something I enjoy doing.

One of the things I love about pastels is how quick you can move with them. Any pigment mixing is all done on the paper. The problem I have is finding the right colors among my box of dusty grey covered chalks. I bought a some new pastels that were all separated in their nice hand compartments but one day I left them on the top of my car after leaving the portrait session. I went back to see where they might have colored the road but they were long gone. Big bummer! Being strapped for cash I couldn't afford to replace them. So I'm stuck with the few small pieces I have left all jumbled together.

I'd use my acrylics but I'm working on a series of small 11x14 landscape paintings at home and don't want the hassle breaking down and resetting up my studio. Pastels a great for traveling.

A Fun Photo Day

2011-12-18T08:56:00.000-08:00

Thursday was a Plein Air Painting Day for Yosemite Western Artists at the Awahnee Hills Regional Park. Pastel artist Charlotte Hoffman and I decided to go early for the morning light since they weren't getting there till 9AM. It was hard to gauge if the sky was going to give us some great color or not. There were some interesting clouds but it was mixed with a lot of color muting haze.

Turned out to be a hazy day which made things a bit more challenging. Though we both have painted on location we wanted to do more exploring of the location so we opted for our cameras instead. I'm not a big fan of trying to capture the ever changing light with paint. Maybe I'm just to used to using photography for my reference. Plus light can change in a matter of minutes and that can totally change a composition.

So we had fun exploring views and areas of the park we hadn't yet seen. A good way to scope out areas for future plein air painting or different light and weather conditions.

As often happens when using a camera I discover images that seem to work better as photos than for painting reference. Not that they couldn't be used that way but sometimes I prefer the photo over a painting. That may sound blasphemes to other painters. Oh well what can I say. I really enjoy both forms of artistic expression.

I took a lot of photos that day which I plan to use as reference of paintings.

After we were done with the park Charlotte and I went into Oakhurst where she treated me to a great breakfast burrito. Yum! Learned it was her birthday and we got to talking about photographing the Sierra foothills. I was complaining how there wasn't any roads heading down the mountains in areas I really wanted to explore. She told me about one her and her very skilled photographer husband David had discovered. Lucky for me she wanted to take some more pictures. We stopped and asked David if he wanted join us but he declined so we headed toward some roads I'd never been on before.

I have to say it felt more like my birthday because I got to hang out with a great friend, who was driving, and discover new areas of interest for photos and painting. The lighting could have been better but it was still a totally fun day.

David may not like hearing this but we wound up chasing a couple cowboys down the hills. Totally classic looking honest to God cowboys that I'm anxious to put into a painting. The white hat one had that classic Sam Elliot look. We were looking out at this amazing view of rolling hills heading toward the valley when eagle eye Charlotte spots them down in the ravine below. They were moving faster than I hoped so I started clicking away as fast as I could until we lost them over a hill. Char drove down below them so I could get some better pics of them. It was difficult because there weren't a lot of places to pull over. Fortunately the road had very little traffic. I know now why David calls her the ever patient Charlotte, as I was constantly saying, "ooh ooh great shot, can you pull over?".

There was a lot more to see than I'm showing here. Tombstone rocks covered in lichen, a old chimney, funky shacks, and hawks. We went just a little further and stopped at this amazing view of the rolling hills. At this point the sun was getting ready to set soon so we rushed back to the upper hills hoping for some good sunset color.

With the sun setting at 4:30pm it didn't leave us much time. We immediately lost our sunlight driving back up the ravine but could see it still giving a hazy glow to the upper hills.

We stopped at a section we had viewed earlier just in time to see the sun setting below the haze of clouds. The wind was chilling and making my fingers sting. The sun was setting fast and didn't give us a lot of options for finding that one great shot.

For some odd reason the sun seemed a little squashed as it was setting. We photographed it until it disappeared in the the clouds.

Thanks Charlotte for a really great day!

From Photography to Painting Again

2011-12-17T17:07:00.000-08:00

Ahwahnee Gravel Road

Been a while since I've written here. Been busy with life and painting. Yes painting! Not sure why I avoided painting suppose I felt no one appreciated the effort and skill it takes. When you're in a gallery and a photograph sells for the same price as an original painting it gets disheartening. So I went back to focusing on one of my old loves again, photography.

My folks gave me my first SLR camera as a graduation present from high school. I no longer had to borrow one from the school. Took some classes in creative darkroom techniques and wound up using it more as a graphic design tool.

Awahnee Pond - "Sold"

I love photography and feel it gives people a chance to discover and develop their artistic eye and skills. I've used it as a art tool since high school. Most artist's do because who can afford models? Surprisingly it has helped me get back it touch with my love for painting. Often when out taking photos I would see things in the composition I wish were not there or different.

Having used Photoshop since it's beginning I have no trouble augmenting a photo. But one of the things I enjoy about a good photo is that rarity of finding the perfect shot in nature that needs no retouching.

Before there was home computers I worked as a photo retoucher in Hollywood for many years. Hand retouching with a brush and airbrush. It was the perfect way to make stars look better than they were. Did a lot of head transplants back in the day.

I learned to render photographically. But I missed seeing the creative process in the finished art and photography and photographic rendering hides that. There's this perception that photography is a truthful representation of what is real. Having worked in Hollywood and advertising for most of my career I know just deceptive that notion is. Even Ansel Adams manipulated his photographs.

Ahwahnee Hills Park

What I love about paintings is you can see the process and skill involved. Of course one can usually see the difference between a skilled photographer and a novice as well. But IMHO it takes more skill and time to paint than take a photograph. Like any skill the more you do it the better you get. It always grates on me when people think I was just born with the gift to paint. Not so. It starts with a love and desire to do it and a whole lot of practice and doing. It takes a lot of missing the mark and failures to become good at anything

Here's a photo that was used for reference in the painting Awahnee Dirt Road. At the time of taking it I was imagining what how I wanted to see it as a painting. Started the painting that same day while it was fresh in my mind. An interpretation of what I experienced. Not just a copy of a painted copy of a photo.

The joy of painting is the freedom of expression and not being restricted to what the camera sees.

Up Around Tenaya Lodge

2011-11-10T13:44:00.000-08:00

Had to take my son to Oakhurst yesterday so we thought we'd go up 41 and see how the Dogwoods were doing. They seem to be on the verge of changing color but not quite reaching the wonderful pink hues we love to see.

Since we drove all the way to Tenaya Lodge it seemed worth checking out this little waterfall that Diane and Jaunita told be about on one of our excursions to Big Sandy via Jackson dirt road. It's the road right before turning into the lodge and passes by the horse stables about a mile in.

This is one of those bumpy dirt roads that one takes very slowly in spring and summer. This was the first time I'd been on it covered in snow. We're talking a road definitely less traveled. My Subaru Outback fortunately has all will drive and seemed to have no problem with the road. We just kept it real slow.

It's not a wide road and travels along some fairly steep drops at times. There are a few spectacular views worth stopping to take pics. It follows along Big Creek for most of it. Never saw it covered in snow.With some of the trees and bushes still holding on to their Fall color in made for some nice scenes.

The trail is fairly flat and gets pretty interesting when you start walking along the old flume levy. It's not a very wide trail but wide enough to where we didn't feel nervous about falling down the hill or into the dike. You can see a hint of it looking back in this pic with the young Dogwood.

It was pretty magical area and made for a really nice short hike. Definitely a walk I will have to share with others.

We passed a couple and their energetic dog on the road coming up who eventually caught up with us as we were taking photos. It's a bit dicey passing folks on this Levy because of it's size so we had to gingerly step off of it to let them pass. That was the only time I felt a bit nervous. Because you can't see what your stepping on under the snow. Had to use the tripod to check for stability.

There was a lot to look at inside the levied area. You could see Big Creek down the hill through the trees but it was too steep and covered in snow to risk scrambling down.

The contrast of the fall leaves on top of the white snow made for some interesting shots. The brightness of the show was quite a challenge to adjust for. I did a lot of bracketing figuring I'd have to combine photos to capture what we were seeing.

I suppose I could pull up the rock textures in this one but I kind of like the look of dark holes they created.
The stream had areas that we just beginning to frost over.

Some sections that didn't get any light had these cool icicles dripping down the moss and snow covered rocks. I could have spent most of my time just trying to capture them. Being a native Californian I've not often seen icicles so these really caught attention. Some areas the snow on top of the rocks seemed like clouds dripping ice. Again it was challenging trying to capture both the snow texture and the moss covered rocks. I had to combine two shots to make this wrk and it still doesn't quite capture what I saw. It's moments like these when I really wish I was working with a higher end digital SLR.

It can be hard to even match what the camera image is showing me. I can't always easily decide which image I like best. One where the rocks and moss stand out or one where the snow and ice are the main focus. I want both and should probably work this shot a bit more.

The trail ends at the falls and where the damn for the levy starts. It's not a huge water fall but it was rewarding never the less. With some of the wild grapes and various bushes still in fall color it made for a very interesting scene surrounded by snow. This was another one where I had to combine shots from different exposures.

After seeing the shots of the road my wife said we were crazy to take that road in those conditions. I have to admit on the way back down we did hit an icy area were we lost traction, slid, and fish tailed a wee bit. That gets your heart going, but we were going fairly slow so it wasn't to hard to correct and not go over the bank or into the mountain. We crawled down a little slower after that.

Winter Comes a Knock'n

2011-11-09T22:10:00.000-08:00

Last Friday while working on some new landscape paintings my wife called from work around 2:30 to say the clouds were looking great and I might want to get out there get some pics. She was right they were looking great. So my son and I went out for a drive. Next thing you know we are in Yosemite.

I love clouds but I love them more when they're part of a beautiful scene. I couldn't think of a better place for that than Yosemite so we drove the hour and a half there. I hoping to get some some Fall color thrown into the mix, but Sadly the snow that fell the night before had knocked most of the leaves on the ground. Fern Springs was almost completely covered in leaves. I took some pics but the leaves were a bit to messy looking.

There was a nice section of maple leaves carpeting the ground near there though. The few leaves I saw in the area still on the trees looked a bit beat up. The leaves on the ground were quite soggy but the area was still quite beautiful. I kept thinking how do I do this little area justice in a pic? It's frustrating when you feel yourself failing at it. You want that one shot that captures it all. I thought I had some that came close but it was the leaves on the moss covered rocks that I found liking the most.

Two of the paintings I've been working on were dealing with reflections so I took a couple shots of Yosemite's two most well know granite monoliths.

Instead of heading for Valley View for sunset as originally planned we kept going toward Curry Village. The clouds were getting some nice color and the mist from the ground was coming up. Things were changing so fast I knew we wouldn't make it down to Valley View in time. One minute the mist would be rising and coming in front and behind the row of Cedars and the next it would be gone. You know how sometimes you wait in an area hoping for the conditions to improve because it looks promising? Next time I'm going in much earlier and giving myself more time. None of this entering the park at 4PM stuff.

Timing it Just Right

2011-11-04T12:37:00.000-07:00

Conditions in the mountains can change fast. I was talking to some friends who went one week later than I did to photograph the aspens on the east side. In just a week most of the peak color and leaves were gone. It got me thinking about how timing can be everything when it comes to getting good pics. Of course there's also a good bit of skill and what I like to call the artist's eye that comes into play. But getting places as the right time is so key to getting that dramatic image we want. I often find myself chasing the light.

It's amazing how quick things can change in an hour or just a few minutes. When a storm rolls in I'll often check the web cams and Yosemite Conservancy. The one at Sentinal Dome can be spectacular. This little gif animation was made this morning by copying images every 2 or three minutes from that web cam.

While having my morning coffee and reading the news I'd check the web cam copy and paste the image into Photoshop. It was amazing to watch the changes of light and clouds interacting with Half Dome.

These were taken from around 7:30 AM to 8:30AM. You can tell the start of the animation from the 1 second hold on the first image at 7:30. It's kind of a poor man's time lapse. But I wanted to share just quickly conditions can change.

Some folks may like the light and clouds at one moment better than the other. It comes down to personal taste.

Here's a shot from 11:00AM Still a pretty amazing image. It takes me about an hour and a half to two hours to get to the Yosemite valley floor. Add another 45 minutes if I want to get to Glacier Point.

This time of season work is slow so I have the time to go there but not the money for gas. Heck if I could I'd be in that park every day. Right now I'm wondering just how many leaves came down with this storm. Is Fall over or is there still a chance to get some good leaf color?

I've allotted myself one day trip into the park before I have to leave next Friday for a week of taking care of biz down in San Diego. So I'm all anxious wondering whether the weather is going to be best tomorrow or if I should just head for the Park today.

Here's an older shot I took of a Sunrise from Glacier Point.

Hunting for Fall Color (day 3)

2011-10-29T00:18:00.000-07:00

My last day in Lee Vining started with a quick trip to the Exxon gas for a large coffee to go. From there I headed up north of the Mono museum where I hoped to catch some morning wildlife on the lake. It was quite cold. While the sand pipers shuffled around for their breakfast I sipped my warm coffee. The morning light had a beautiful golden glow to it.

I loved the subtle play of soft primary colors in the above shot. Blue, red and yellow. My coffee was gone about the time the sun rose so it was time to head back up to the Lundy beaver ponds and see how they looked in the morning.

The water was like glass with hardly a ripple. The sun was casting shadows from one mountainside to other as can be seen in the above pic. Not an easy shot to catch with the contrasts of light and shadow so I had to meld to separate exposures to get what I saw.

If you're really lucky you may come across a California pond turtle catching some early morning rays. If not then you bring your own and carefully place him where you want. As models go turtles are fairly cheap and rarely complain.

When I came over here the focus was fall color. But the shots I enjoyed finding the most where the reflective ones and had me reflecting on just how lucky I was to be there at that time.

One thing I hadn't done yet was drive up to the end of the dirt road and hike up to the falls. I had heard it was a bit dicey on one area of the switch backs so having heard that you'd think I'd of paid closer attention to foot placement that the views. But the views were hard to take you eye away from and sure enough on my way back down the trail from the upper view of the falls I fell, tripod camera and all. Stepped on a lose rock on a steep down hill switch back and landed on my butt. Fortunately there was a bush near by so I tossed my tripod and camera in it hoping it would fair better that me.

What saved my ass literally was the fact that it had heated up considerably during the climb there so I had wrapped my heavy winter coat around my butt. It was a bit embarrassing as there were some hikers climbing up the trail below me who all heard me fall. I suppose I got some fall color on my butt from that.

Met some wonderful people along my excursions and have to say it is quite beautiful over there. I will definitely be back. Easy to see why people Fall in Love with it.

Fall Color (day 2 continued)

2011-10-27T14:50:00.000-07:00

Virginia Creek from 395

Lower Lundy Canyon

Before getting into day 3 I'm going to share how day 2 wrapped up. It was really nice having a whole day to myself with all these spectacular sights. Just seeing all the color of Virgina Creek from 395 was stunning. There was a constant stream of folks stopping along the freeway to take in the view. From there I headed over to Lundy Canyon another popular spot for people wanting to take in all the Fall color.

There was already a lot of leaves on the ground in some areas as can be seen in the above pic.Yet I quite a few great pics of leaves carpeting the ground. Not having been there before I'd stop at sights that looked promising occasionally walking back disappointed. Once I got on the dirt road things started changing for the better. The first beaver pond had me mesmerized in it's reflective beauty.

The beavers had been obviously quite busy as can be seen in this one shot of all the downed logs in the water. There was so much to shoot. With the light constantly changing, I knew I'd have to come back here the next day for the morning light. The place was truly magical and I could see why it's so popular. I shot til it started to get too dark to see. The whole east side experience was inspiring and each time I go through my pics I keep seeing new favorite shots. It was near impossible to take a bad shot.

My little Cannon SX30 IS performed admirably. Yes there were times I could have used an aperture opening smaller than F/8 and yes a bigger sensor would allow me even better resolution but at 14 mega pixels it did quite well. 16 x 20 prints are going to hold up quite well.

As with all these pics clicking on them will take you to a larger slide show of them.

Fall Color (day 2)

2011-10-24T18:49:00.000-07:00

Was looking forward to spending one whole day in the east side. Woke up around 6am to a fairly cold morning and headed off to get some fresh coffee at the Chevron in Lee Vining. Mono Lake was looking fairly interesting so I took the 3 mile dirt drive down to the Large Tufa gathering.

Before I could reach the water's edge I took some picks of the sun peaking over. From there I headed over to the June Lake loop hoping for some good morning light on the aspen. Was not disappointed in the show.

This was a area that years past our family would go to for fishing trips. We were never disappointed when fishing there. It was where my kids first learned to fish from a boat and where my daughter caught her first fish. Seeing folks out on the lakes made me want to join them.

Had a nice talk with the marina owner at June Lake and found out we both went to the Art Center. He retired having had a very successful career in television advertising.

With daylight burning I decided to make one last drive along the lakes and head over to Virgina Creek which I heard was ablaze with color.It was. Drove to the lake behind the creek but all the aspen had lost their leaves. However the scene along 395 was packed with cars and cameras. Quite beautiful!

From there I had enough daylight left to go check out Lundy Canyon. Amazing place which I'll cover on day 3 of my trip.

Fall Color (day 1)

2011-10-24T12:10:00.000-07:00

Yosemite near 120 and 140 junction.

I've never photographed the fall color on the east side of the Sierra's. This year I was determined to go see nature's fall show. I'd seen a lot of great pics by many photographer friends so I was anxious for the fall color experience. I recently started following photographer Michael Frye's blog and joined the Yahoo Calphoto group focused on the California fall color. These folks were really getting me excited about the whole thing. A talented photographer friend, Heidi Vetter, who lives there said it was starting to explode color wise so the time was right.

Apparently there's a very short window of opportunity to capture the fall colors. Everyone wants to get there when it's at it's peak. Some areas peak early and are over with while others are just beginning to change. I saw a bit of both.

120 Lee Vining Ravine

My first encounter with the fall color was in Yosemite near the 120 and 140 junction. The maples were just starting to turn and I expect they'll be peaking in a week or two. I didn't go into the valley because I was anxious to get down the Lee Vining grade of 120 before dusk. I also needed to see where I would be car camping for the night and hopefully do some scouting around. Seeing this colorful stand of aspen along the steep 120 grade gave me a lot of hope for what was to come.There was a good bit of color showing down in the Lee Vining ravine campgrounds as well. I took a walk along the upper campground creek and was immediately struck by the sparkling glow of the back lit aspen. Totally magical.

Campsite Aspen

Most of my fist day was spent on the road getting to Lee Vining. There were a few aspen starting to turn along some of the Tioga pass creeks and I was really tempted to hike up the May Lake trail but maybe another time.

Just outside the east gate to Yosemite is Tioga lake where I had to good fortune to take a couple quick pics of a bald eagle before he took off. Tried to get some pics of him soaring without much luck. He took off for Gaylor Lakes after one circle.

Campsite Creek

Walking along the creek I came upon this red leafed plant still holding onto it's late blooms. I'm guessing it was some kind of fireweed but not really sure.

With the sun going down fast I needed to make sure I had a good place to spend the night. Went to a great site my painting friend Diane told me about and had it all to myself. It seemed to cold to pitch a tent so I slept in the back of my Subaru wagon. I had set it set up with an air mattress and a few sleeping bags. It was surprisingly comfortable. A bit cold by morning but not bad and the price was right. $0

Michelle Acrylic on Canvas

2011-10-12T22:06:00.000-07:00

This is how it started at the Gertrude School House after 3 hours.

This is after futzing with it a couple days later.

I still want to work the hands and arms and a few other minor details.

Local Pond Scum

2011-09-28T22:38:00.000-07:00

I'm so far behind on posting some of the excursions and pics I've been taking. Lots of pics to show along with some new hiking videos. But I need to get some of the earlier photo sessions out of the way first.

Before life got super busy I took some walks around the creeks and ponds of Mariposa. Here is a collection of pics of that local scenery.

Right along side Hwy 49 near the fairgrounds is a pond that always gets covered in algae or as I like to call it pond scum.

This pond can be followed to some nice little creek full of interesting sites.

One of the main residents of these areas are frogs. They're not always easy to capture. Spotting this blue heron hunting along the creek reminded me why they're so skittish. I also spotted some good size bass in some of the deeper pools. Life can be tough for frogs. It's not always soft squishy scum and tasty insect feasts.

Back to Painting

2011-09-21T11:41:00.000-07:00

It's been too long since I've mixed it up with a paint and brush. A couple weeks ago I accidentally left two boxes of new pastels on the roof of my car. I know this because a larger third box got wedged in the roof rack and discovered the next day on the way to a job. Not having the money to replace the pastels I resorted back to acrylics on canvas pad.

Been thinking about forgoing the breathing of pastel dust for health reasons anyway. So here I am painting again. I think I prefer it.

Bridget is one of our favorite models with the Friday painting life drawing and painting group.

Bridget has many classic costumes like this flapper one from a small painting done last year. I've always loved painting her as she holds a pose with poise and grace. She also happens to have an endearing personality that makes the whole experience a real treat.

All the Friday group seems to rise to the occasion when we have such classic models. One of my favorite poses of hers inspired me to place her in an old time train station.

Inspiring subjects often makes for better art, but I still have trouble bringing such paintings to a close in the studio. One day I may finish these two. I don't know what it is about me that makes it difficult to finish things.

Tuolumne Tour part 2

2011-09-19T12:39:00.000-07:00

Unicorn Peak as seen from Pothole Dome

A little late in getting this second part of the Tuolumne river tour posted. Life gets busy and blogging takes a back seat.

This is a fairly easy hike that skirts Pothole Dome. This day we only hiked a third of the way up but still got some fairly impressive views.

Sometimes I debate promoting some of these beautiful easy hikes because they're so much better when they are less crowded. This particular hike is surprisingly not as crowded as some and I hope it stays that way.

A view of Tuolumne Meadows from Pothole Dome.

One nice thing about this hike is that it gives you some great options. The dome is one of the easiest to climb in the park with a slow gradual grade if you start your ascent from the eastern side. You'll see a path as you walk around the perimeter that cuts through a small grove of trees at the base of the dome.

The white of the granite dome can be quite glaringly bright so sun glasses are a good idea.

There are places to take a dip in the river but be extremely careful as the granite can be quite slick and the the water is snow melt and quite cold. The granite this water rushes over is nothing like falling down on sand.

This is one of those hikes where it is god to take you time and enjoy the views that refresh the
soul.

There's much to see here. Just turning around and looking at the plant life can be rewarding. The right time of year one can see Mountain Spirea blooming at the base of trees with a coloring similar to the granite they are growing out of.

The place is truly magical and one can not help but be amazed and in awe of nature's wonderful diversity and splendor.

A Tour of Toulumne

2011-09-01T13:34:00.000-07:00

Bear #36

It's a rare occasion when a tour starts off first thing with a bear sighting. While waiting for my tour guests to finish their breakfast at the Ahwahnee hotel, bear #36 was spotted just in the back. I got this shot just before he climbed into the appletree for his morning meal.

Hard to get a sharp photo when you've got you lens maxed out at 35X with no tripod. This was the best of the lot.

Fortunately this family had already seen most of the valley floor highlights and seemed intrigued with seeing the high country off Tioga road. My lucky day! This time of year it's the place to be in Yosemite.

The first major site along the drive to Tuolumne meadows is Olmsted Point. It is often as crowded as the Tunnel View in the valley. This is a not so typical view of Half Dome frame by this granite hugging tree.

Usually people are so focused on the view looking toward Half Dome that they don't see this one looking toward Tuolumne Meadows of Tenaya Lake and Mt Conness. When I saw the clouds I knew we were in for some great picture taking weather.

Off we went toward the clouds and more beautiful scenery.

The walk along side the meadow was spectacular. The air was alive with energy.
The clouds kept changing and just as we reached the mellow section of the Tuolumne river we came across two does and fawns.

Can you see the spirit of a buck's head looking over them in the water to the right. OK so I have a good imagination but I see it even if you don't. See how the dead roots create his antlers.

Soon my quests were overlooking a small water fall and down the river in awe. It's a real pleasure to show families such beauty.

I'll post more on this great day on my next post "a Tuolumne tour continued".

Big Sandy Camping

2011-08-30T14:53:00.000-07:00

A bit behind on posting about a great day of luxury camping. A couple weeks back I met fellow portrait painter at the hardware store and next thing you know he's invited me to join him camping in his new Stream Line camper trailer. All I needed was a sleeping bag. I didn't hesitate.

So next thing you know Brian the Brit who had just returned from the UK was driving us over the bumpy dirt road to Big Sandy. It was about 7 miles of very slow going but we had no trouble finding ourselves a great campsite. $18 a night for campsites BTW. There's fairly clean pit toilets there and all the campsites have fire rings with grills and sturdy picnic tables.

There were quite a few free range cattle nearby but they were fairly friendly. They spent most of their time grazing in the corn lilies. They were fairly easy to spook. Must have been that look of hunger for a juicy steak in our eyes. The campsites are mostly dirt with very little vegetation so they never entered our space. Didn't come across many cow pies except for a few places by the creek. Which means definitely don't drink the water unless you filter it real good. Eat the tiny brook trout at your own risk.

The light was just starting to get good so we set off with cameras in hand to shoot Big Sandy, Heading down stream we came across this amazing batch of Fire Weed and Indian Paintbrush flowers blooming along the trail.

Pictures just don't do the experience justice. The place is truly magical.

It's one of those rare places on the west side of the Sierra/Nevada mountains where Aspen grow. Most of them were leaning, probably due to the heavy snow fall we had this year. There wonderful to see with their white bark and leaves that flit and flash in the breeze.

Here they are with some dying corn lilies and other flowers. I think Brian got better shots of the these.

I have to admit I love what Brian called civilized camping. Those Air Streams are first rate. Tent camping doesn't even come close. The next morning I rushed off early to try and get some good shots with the morning light.

Have to admit to be partial to the late day light. It seems to get progressively better as the day winds down. Where as the morning light gets worse as the sun rises.

All in all it was a great but short camping trip. Saw a lot of beautiful scenes and took so many photos that it's difficult to just pick a few. Also took a lot of video which I'm not sure what to do with.

The YWA plein air group is going here for September. Hope I can make it back there with them. Though most all the flowers will be gone it would still be a great place to paint. Later in fall the Apsen and oaks turn gold and the Dogwoods will be pink. I'm guessing late October and early November are going to be colorful times to be in this area.

Pamela in pastel

2011-08-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

Fire and Flowers

2011-08-22T13:26:00.000-07:00

The road to Glacier Point

Back on the 7th of August we had a lightening storm roll in that started a fire in Yosemite. Four days latter I had a private to give a couple ladies from Texas. On the way to show them Glacier Point's amazing views we were stopped by NPS as we waited for them to clear the road for us.

The fire was burning all the under brush between the Chinquapin turn off and Badger Pass ski resort. This we're told is a good necessary thing but try telling that to the tourists on vacation.

I knew Nancy would probably get some dramatic pics from this so the next morning after sleeping on a not so comfortable couch we went back out to see what we could catch of the fire and the flowers we didn't have time for the previous day.

Brewer's Angelica possibly Sierra Angelica

The fire work crews wouldn't let us stop where the fire was really raging so we left to go photograph the Cone flowers and Lupine we saw near Crane Flat. There's only so much smoke you want to breath as well. Fortunately the smoke hadn't effected the meadows there and we were rewarded with some great flower pics. The first one I saw was a group of Brewers Angelica shooting out their flower orbs like nature's fireworks.

This little meadow was surrounded by cedars and ponderosa pines. While focusing on some cone flowers we were rewarded with a visit from the Monarch royalty.

This was the first time I'd seen a one of these actually staying on one flower long enough to get some decent pics.

We kept hoping it would open it's wings but it was to busy working it's way around the cone to listen to our advice.

Fortunately it came back to another cone with more lupine in the background. It was hard to live all this behind but I had to get back home to pack for a trip to visit my mom.

Sadly the trip to mom's was not so good. The demtia of Alzheimer's is taking over and she kicked me out of her home after less than a day. It was a long bus ride home. .

Nancy Robbins deep in concentration

Maybe it was having such a great week in the park that made my mom's hate toward me hurt more. People tell me it's just the disease but it still hurts. I don't want to close this on a negative note. There was one other colorful creature I saw enjoying the flowers that day. This pic gives you and idea of just how high and thick this meadow was with flowers. She is standing shoulder deep in wild flowers.

Life has it's difficulties but it also has it's rewards. Fortunately the rewards still out number the bad times.

A Fun Filled Friday 8-12

2011-08-21T17:03:00.000-07:00

It was a good Friday. It started with the YWA painting group which is always something to look forward to. Our scheduled model didn't show but we got lucky when one of our fellow painters and friend Mary Jane Brewster agreed to be the model.

This first sketch shows how I often do a lay in with pastels. Usually starting with some kind of background color. Not always the one that is there. This one happened to be pink and it suited her. Sometimes I leave it white but that can be pretty hard to keep clean with pastels. Having a color there makes it easier to start blocking light shapes in at the same time as the darks.

Mary Jane and I have painted together many times. She even did a painting of me that is in my profile picks. This is the first time I've had the pleasure of painting her. This isn't a great likeness of her but I like to think I captured her determined spirit and strength. She is really one of the most remarkable woman I've ever known. Lucky to be able to call her a good friend.

Five of us were out to lunch after the painting session when Nancy Robbins called to see if anyone wanted to go with her on a hike to see the Indian Arch Rock at sunset in Yosemite. I wasn't sure hiking the 3 miles back out at night was in me but I'd never been there. Fortunately I had my day pack, head lamp, and hiking shoes in my car. After getting the affirmative from my painting pals that such a hike was a bit crazy I decided I'm just crazy enough to enjoy this.

So I met Nancy at Wawona and she drove us all the way to Porcupine Flat by way of the Tioga road. It was one of those spur of the moment adventures that makes life exciting. Nancy is an accomplished photographer and I know I'm going to get some great picks when I go hiking with her.

Of course keeping up with her is another matter altogether. Even with her bad wrist, shoulder, and a heavy pack full of camera gear she leaves me winded trying to keep up.

It was a bit of a race with the sun to try and get there with the moon just rising and good light. Nancy was already at the Indian Arch when I stopped for a breather and looked back in surprise to see Half Dome glowing across the valley.

With the sun quickly setting I had to pick up my pace if I was going to see the arch by sunset. As you can see from these shots It was well worth it. The light was changing fast and I don't know where the colorful clouds came from but I was one happy hiker to see them. I was up the back side of the Arch just in time to catch these amazing sunset clouds.

After climbing up on a huge boulder I was able to get this shot of a Ponderosa pine framed by the arch.

I didn't want to leave but it was getting dark and the hill down was quite slippery with small gravel acting like ball bearings on hard granite.

It was a long walk back with our head lamps on but we took it nice and leisurely. It was a hike I hope to do again. I'm lucky to have such wonderful inspiring friends.

Last Week in Yosemite (day 2)

2011-08-16T21:39:00.000-07:00

Tuolumne River

Last week was one great time in Yosemite after another. I'm starting this series on last Tuesday's adventure with Charlotte and Dave Hoffman because I've not finished the painting I started on the previous Monday with the YWA plein air painters at Wawona's Swinging Bridge.

Tuolumne River Bed Rock

Last Tuesday neighbors and talented artists Charlotte and Dave invited me to join them in a high country hike and photo shoot. We settled on exploring the Pothole Dome area at the west end on Tuolumne Meadows. An area none of us had yet to explore.

It sounded like a fun adventure and it was. We started by having a late lunch a bit off the trail and a little ways up the dome. The distant views were a bit hazy because of the lightning fire that the NPS is letting burn over by Badger Pass. Though we were a good distance away the wind was blowing our direction and the hint of fsmoke was in the air.

After lunch Dave led the way across the dome headed toward the river. Charlotte and I lagged behind when all of a sudden she says, "Terry stop!" Right between Dave and us were some deer heading up the Dome.

The Buck does on stop here.

We immediately got our cameras out to try to capture some deer pics as they moved up. Dave had his back to them and had no idea how close they were.Yelling to him would scare them off so we kept silent. It was a pretty good size group and mostly bucks. One of the last to cross our path was a huge buck. I'd never seen one with so many points on it's antlers. Wish I could have gotten a better shot of him.

I think Dave might have been a little bummed he missed them. He most likely would have gotten a much better pic.

Soon Dave had found us a good trail and we headed along side Pothole Dome hoping to reach the river. Eventually we found it and were rewarded with some beautiful high country scenery.

Back on the Dome near the end of our return hike Dave asked if we wanted to go to the top. At this point my disgruntled legs were exclaiming, "no thanks". My heart and lungs were in total agreement with the legs.

Charlotte was also ready for a rest so we decided to sit and enjoy the amazing views and leave Dave to explore the top. We'd meet him back later at the car.

This was the evening shot of two distant domes from our spot on Pothole. Sadly there weren't any clouds just some hazy smokey air.

Instead of continuing across the granite dome Charlotte and I walked down to the meadow's edge to check it out. Not a lot of flowers yet but there were some starting to show. Found a nice group of Indian Paint Brush and a lazy creek as we walked around toward the car.

A great time with great people. Looking forward to hiking this area again.

Thanks Charlotte and Dave.

Day in the Park part 2

2011-08-06T12:13:00.000-07:00

Last part of the day found us hiking up Sentinel Dome with the sun going down. I have to admit I wasn't all that excited about this idea because I was already dog tired. I could feel my heart beating in my brain as I trudged this old out of shape body up the trail.

Fortunately there's a lot of beautiful scenery to stop an admire on the way to the top.

The trees were catching some beautiful gold light. In the top pic you can see North Dome and Basket Dome in the distance.

This poor twisted tree seemed to be unraveling. It was a nice spot to take a little breather and enjoy the light.

My comrades were already at the top by this time but that was OK because I was loving the light where I was.

As I start the ascent up the granite dome I got a glimpse of these beautiful flowers just catching the last rays of sun. They were back lit and glowing. No wonder they are called Mountain's Pride.

How these beautiful flowers and trees can grow in the cracks of the granite is amazing.

A Day in the Park

2011-08-03T12:30:00.000-07:00

Was feeling a bit caged like these rocks I discovered along a hill in Fish Camp. Have no idea why they created this path of caged river rock but it was interesting. This is also the start of my photography day in Yosemite.

I had planned to take pictures outside the park up at Big Sandy after dropping Margie off at work in Fish Camp. When I realized I forgot my tripod! Major bummer and it was too far to go back home and get it. So I called pro photographer Nancy in Wawona about 6 miles away and she loaned me tripod. Yeah for cool friends!

We got to talking about different hikes and I asked her about the Alder Creek trail from Wawona. Told me about a trail that starts at Mosquito Creek and I already being in the park I thought I might give it a quick look. Quick? ha ha It was 4 miles to it but I took it anyway to see how far I could get before going back to her place at 3 for a trip to Tioga.

The trail quickly leaves the creek and mosquitoes and starts it's steady but comfortable climb through a burnt forest. The contrast of the green carpet against the blackened trees was beautiful. Not what I was expecting to see at all.

The trail was empty as far as I could see. The various plants and wild flowers were attracting lots of butterflies and the sound of the wind through the trees was it except for the birds.

It's obviously not a very well traveled trail as it was hidden by plants. Still it was wonderful to have it all to myself. There were clouds left over from the thunderstorm the day before and the greens were intense.

It's a part of Yosemite view get to see.

I made it about a mile up just past the .07 mile marker before I realized it was 2:30 and I'd better hoof it back down the trail if I was going to meet up with Nancy to go into the high country in her new convertible Miata.

Found out another photographer buddy Franka was going to join us. Both of these women are amazing photographers. Unfortunately the Miata only holds two. So plans start changing.

I had to be back to pick up Margie from work at 7pm in Fish Camp. Nancy wanted to photograph the sunset hoping the clouds would hold out. Sunset is near 8pm which meant I'd get the uncomfortable couch for the night if I stayed. That meant taking the care down to Fish Camp for Margie and catching a ride with Franka on her way up. Seemed like good timing.

Unfortunately Franka couldn't stay late because she had an early morning long drive the next day. Next thing you know the clouds are gone and it looks like the meadows on the way to Sentinel Dome are the new plan. Hiked to McGurk Meadow but the sun was leaving us fast so we left there looking for meadows still in sun.

On the way we spotted this meadow in shade next to the road that was alive with Shooting Stars. Unfortunately the mosquitoes got the better of me and I left Franka and Nancy to get shots that are probably way better than this one.

Next stop was Sentinel Dome a hike I have never done in all my years here. That I'll continue in part two. The new blog header pic is a self portrait from the end of that day.

Ophelia

2011-07-31T09:05:00.000-07:00

Ophelia, now there is a name or subject that has been the muse for many an artist. Last Friday we had one of our local Ophelia's pose for us again. A beautiful woman who once toured with the Beachboys as a hula dancer.

I have to admit to being quite self conscious about rendering her breasts with her husband in the room. When I'm studying form no matter what it is I tend to feel it in my mind. Paint a rock or an apple and you become very aware of the texture and shape.

Some of the women in the group pointed out that the male born artists were all focusing on the model's breasts. Which only points out that they were quite aware of them as well. So why not paint them? Is it because the breasts that fed us a babies have become associated with sex appeal in our culture?

Maybe men will like this portrait and women will find it as objectifying women as sex objects. Are such portraits to be avoided?

Here's a portrait of the same model from last year. Now I could have just focused on the face on that one as well yet the gown was interesting. Same model radically different looks. Not what you'd call sexy. The top one is the type of image you might see in advertising selling and expensive liquor. Not something you'd associate with fine art.

In art history Ophelia from Shakespeare's Hamlet was a favorite subject of the realists. My favorite of the many renditions was this one by John Everett Millais. I had the pleasure of see this amazing painting may years back at the Tate museum in London. It was absolutely mind boggling.

Pastels and a Photo Tioga Trip

2011-07-24T08:11:00.000-07:00

This post should have been before the last one as it's about the Friday before it. The day started of with the YWA (Yosemite Western Artists) painting session. I was experimenting with using rubbing alcohol with the pastels. It worked nicely to give the pastels a wash look to start on but it didn't work well with the lighter pastels.

I wound up scrapping this portrait and trying one from another location. There was only time enough for two twenty minute poses. But you're unhappy with a piece sometimes it's best to just start fresh. I hadn't planned the composition of the first sketch very well. I really liked her hand holding the can but trying to squish it in without allowing for it in the composition was a big mistake. I know I should plan more and do thumbnail comps but I rarely do when sketching.

Loved this angle but with too little time and too much talking I didn't get as far as I would have liked on it. Never-the-less it was a fun morning of portrait sketching.

Sometimes I'll fine tune a pastel when I get home but the weather was looking too good to stay indoors. Big puffy clouds were showing up and I loves me some clouds.

So I talked my son into a drive along the Tioga pass up to Tuolumne Meadows It was a spur of the moment late day afternoon trek. But with the flowers blooming in the high country and the promise of a nice sunset it seemed worth it. It was. Well sorta.

Got this great pic of the back side of Half Dome and a few others sunset pics from Toulumne Meadows.

Sometimes you arrive at a spot just a best time. That seemed how this evening was shaping up.
Unfortunately on the way back home my car blew out a spark plug.

We hobbled down the mountain and just barely made it to El Portel. Missed the last YART bus out so we slept in the car till morning.

Ma I hate sleeping in a car. Cramped cold and learned that my son snores quite a bit. Sadly we were stuck there because our other car was not working. Having no cars when you live in the mountains sucks.

Fortunately what I thought was going to be the death of my car turned out to be an fairly easy fix for our mechanic.

Fridays Painting Group

2011-07-23T16:10:00.000-07:00

Every Friday I join a bunch of other artists in painting from a live model. The sessions are three hours long, with the model usually holding the same pose very 20 minutes with 10 minutes break. Of course we all get to gabbing during our breaks so we don't always get 6 poses in for the full three hours. But we have a lot of fun and we all look forward to Friday mornings.

In this pic you can see what I did in the first 20 minutes as compared to the last 20. Though I got a good likeness by the last pose the first 20 seem fresher and still a fair representation of the model. In fact I think I caught more of his likable personality in the first 20.

Sometimes in the struggle of getting a realistic likeness the struggle becomes apparent and the freshness and vitality in those first initial strokes is lost.

Anyway this is my new blog about my various artistic endeavors. I look forward to connecting with other artist friends and sharing our love for the arts.