$1800. u.s.
"Un Dia Brumoso"
24x30 inches, oil on canvas
The "wet" season has come to San Miguel and I love those big summer clouds. It's a nice change from the mostly unbroken sunny days of "winter". This painting is obviously done in the studio from reference photos and lots of observation from our patio deck, overlooking part of the town and broad plain beyond. The actual painting view is from further up the hill from where you can see the entire center of town.
This painting was tricky. I didn't want to get too "picky" with detail - I wanted the whole thing to remain a bit fuzzy - misty in fact. The effect of the passing beam of sunlight was very important to me, as was the shifting light and cloud shadow over the plains, so I had to get the values and color temperatures just right. It was a bit of a challenge but I managed to keep enough control to get the proper mood, I think. Yes and it was a lot of work. The next studio painting is going to be a lot more relaxing for a change ...........................
"Calle Recreo desde el Chorro"
9x12 inches oil on panel
$350. u.s.
$350. u.s.
This plein air was from last Tuesday and was a lot of fun. I had been working diligently on the big studio piece (above) for many days and it was great to get out on location and really "cut loose"! The morning started out kind of brumoso - it's summer after all - but the sun did break through for a few instants early on and we did our best to note the position of any light and shade we could put to use. The spot we painted from was excellent. However, there is usually someones car parked in that location. This time somebody had parked an old clunker half in this spot and half in the next, so they left us a safe place right by the corner with a very nice composition. In some ways it's really hard to paint in San Miguel as the streets and sidewalks are sooo narrow. The best views are from the middle of the street but impossible to do plein air work from.
"Morning at Espino's Corner"
9x12 inches on panel
$350. u.s.
$350. u.s.
.............and this one was from Monday. In reality there was a lot more traffic passing us by but you can almost ignore reality sometimes when you're a painter. I didn't want the painting to be about cars, buses and taxi's after all. I can remember a San Miguel from 46 years ago when there was hardly a car in town - in this respect it was a lot more the quiet, sleepy paradise than now! But you can't go back, can you ??
................... So mindlessly on to oblivion we go ........ seemingly whistlin' all the way ...................
