Malaga Cove 16×20 oil

Impressionist oil painting of Malaga Cove, Palos Verdes, CA. I painted this scene on location a few years ago and this is a larger version of it done in the studio. I am glad I painted it on location first because the direction of the waves and the way the white foam flowed back into the sea is very different from other surfs I have painted. This is a famous surfing spot because of the height and length of the waves. The colors in it are sea foam green, pthalo blues and greens for the ocean, and ochre and burnt sienna for most of the hillside. The focus of this scene is the waves and action of the white water. There is dappled light on part of the hillside where the clouds parted.

“Clementine Skies” 12×16 oil painting of a sunset

sunset cc

Love clementines! You know the little tangerines. So I called this one “Clementine Skies” because it was so juicy to paint! …….Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darrrrrrling Clementine…,you were lost and gone forever, oh my darling Clementine. Sing it! Wow I just had a flashback to my childhood girl scout troop. We sang that song over and over I  think to get a singing badge to put on our uniform. Just a pretty sunset at Crystal Cove State Beach, CA. The purple island is Catalina, California.  Sunsets are amazing if you live on the coast. I hope you enjoy them often. What is amazing about them, to me as a painter, is that in the span of 20 minutes, as the sun sets, there are hundreds of different color combinations to paint. As a painter the possibilities are endless. This particular painting, Clementine Skies, has many varieties of the color orange: tangerine, coral, peach, clementine, rose-orange, cantaloupe, apricot, bittersweet, carrot, salmon, titian, and red-yellow. This oil painting has thick paint in the white and yellow area and thin paint in the dark area. When the lights are out the painting glows…it creates its own light!

“People are just as wonderful as sunsets if you let them be. When I look at a sunset, I don’t find myself saying, “Soften the orange a bit on the right hand corner.” I don’t try to control a sunset. I watch with awe as it unfolds.”      Carl R. Rogers