Redwoods and More Painting

 While waiting in the parking lot of Hearst Castle, I had time to open the oils and paint this 5 x 7 of the view to the hills south. This image doesn't quite show the colors true to the painting (they are richer and more detailed), but I'm happy with the composition.

The little Guerilla painter thumb box (for 5 x 7 panels) works wonderfully well in "transport" mode, where space is at a premium, as on the motorcycle. I can carry all my plein air gear in a small pack that straps handily right on top of the requisite luggage for road trips. The contents include:
1. The Guerilla Painter box
2. Brushes
3. Tin for mineral spirits
4. Drink bottle full of mineral spirits
5. Paper towels
6. Cotton garden gloves that I use for painting (also keeps the sun at bay!)
7. Roll of wax paper and heavy-duty rubber bands (for packing the semi-wet paintings face-to-face with wax paper in between)
8. Small tin of Vaseline for cleaning brushes (no need for soap!)
9. Pill boxes with two days cut off--I have tubes of white, burnt umber and pthalo blue that are added as needed to the mixing palette, so I only have five pill boxes with cool and five pill boxes with warm colors.
Here's an image of the setup. It works really, REALLY well.

The trip has been over 1200 miles so far, and just AWESOME!!

Oh, here's a link to the video of the Avenue of the Giants from the motorcycle! Turn DOWN your sound, since the wind noise and Harley pipes are loud.
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The newest DVD on the Color System is HERE
You can see my entire blog HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
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Feb 22 - Plein Air Week in Riverside

Victoria Avenue in Riverside is one of the most lovely routes through a beautiful city. Today I joined the Plein Air Artists of Riverside who were sited along its length painting on location as part of the Plein Air Paint-Out, through next weekend.

This is a 16 x 24 acrylic, and I completed it in about two hours. The weather was overcast, and no distinct light source defined any shadows. I didn't EVEN open the warm boxes of the Color System! I kept having to lift Sparky and walk into the ivy every time a Sunday dog walker would come by. The little protector was "on duty!"

And I had every plan to photograph this one while I painted it, but just did a head-slap about three-fourths of the way through when I remembered I wanted to do it! I will for the next few works during this competition week, giving you an idea of how they come together. Just be assured that this painting was completely done with only six colors and white--the Cool Box in my Color System--those pill boxes with paint!

The Color Boot Camp workshop last weekend was a great success. Two painters wrote about it, saying the following:
"Who would have thought that the "color system" would be much more than just color. It gives us a formula/map to keep us on track. And it helps us reaffirm our values through the correct color choices. Thank you so much, Elin. You are an amazing teacher. I cannot believe the energy and INFORMATION you put into your classes." - Pat Corbin Chao

“Elin taught us the practical applications of her Color System with bright, lively lectures and our indentured servitude to paint, paint and paint. Elin says that "painting is a journey" and I feel like I'm just starting off on the trail. For those of us that are just figuring out all of the painting stuff, there is an enormous benefit to using the Color System. If you don't know it, take a look. And if you have a chance to attend one of her workshops, don't hesitate. It's a blast!
And you'll learn a whole bunch to boot!” - Randy Smith

There are still spaces in the East Coast workshops--you get FIVE FULL DAYS of the Color System, and "Yellin' by Elin" in the Color Boot Camp.

Congratulations to new collector Ray Castenada of Miami, Florida on his purchase of two 16 x 20 still life paintings from my web site!

You can see my entire blog HERE.
My workshop schedule for 2009 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.

April 21 - The Commission Finished

Finished up this portrait of Meg, and the individual who requested this commission is just thrilled. I'm really pleased with it as well, since it not only allows me to do something meaningful for someone, but it also allows me to think through the puzzle of solving the issues unique to the task.

Sorry about the flub-up on yesterday's subject line. That happens when I type in a date--last year's subject automatically slips in, and I just forgot to update it. Been to Hawaii, not going back any time soon.

Tomorrow is Earth Day, and Betty and I will be heading over to a special event at Dos Lagos near Corona to paint "en plein air'. I will be saying goodby to her next Wednesday, and she already knows how sad that will make me. It's been great fun having such an accomplished artist and friend to interact with, and I'll miss her conversations and good heart.

So tomorrow's painting will be one of the two or more I'll do while on location. See ya then!


You can enjoy the entire blog here.

If you need to email me directly, please click here.

April 6 - Plein Air as a Diversion

I finally pried Betty Billups away from her mural commission and said, "We need to go paint!" She listened, and we headed out with the pack goat loaded with our gear. Up the mountain behind my studio we went, and had a wonderful afternoon of painting--just enough time for her to regroup and we both painted while Vincent van Goat lay in the shade of one of the many rocks strewn around the landscape. After about an hour, we headed back another way, through the riparian habitat below the house--keeping Vincent away from the poison oak!

This is an original oil, 8 x 10 inches, for sale for $120 through my ebay store.

Congratulations to Debbie Sullivan--the first signup for the Georgia Workship in September!

February 26 - One of the Plein Air Paintings, "Got Rocks?"

I didn't get time to work on the horses today, so will share with you one of the two plein air pieces I did while the Plein Air Artists of Riverside were here last Saturday. Called "Got Rocks?", this 6 x 8 oil was done sitting next to my horse's corral, looking out the back gate. I love the light on these monoliths of "exfoliating granite" that make up the exposed rocks in our area.
The trail that is shown in the lower left is the beginning of the "Brittlebush Loop" that i made with the help of Vincent van Goat a while back. It is nice to look at the painting and see the results of good, hard labor!
Now when you look at this painting, you might think, "nobody has rocks that look like that, all round and that big". But we do have them here and they are great fun to paint! The rocks are abou 15 feet tall from this view.
I'm beginning to pack for my trip to the ranch in Arizona next week. And I sure hope the dial up will allow me to post my paintings! My friends are there already, and have written about the activities and ranch life so far. I'm looking forward to it!

The blog (and I apologize for the incorrect link yesterday) is here.
Congratulations to new collector Linda Hughes from Davis, California on her acquiring "Homeless", the painting of the cat head study.
--Elin

January 20 - Fairmont Park, Riverside, On Location Today

"Fairmont Park Afternoon" What a great time today! I received an email inviting me to join about 15 other plein air (on location) artists for a pot luck lunch and an afternoon of painting at a local park, complete with lake. This 9 x 12 oil is my first canvas, and it was fun to keep "cleaning out the boxes" and using a lot of paint to get the feeling I was after. The fishing folk on the pier were compliant enough to stay put and the palm trees on the right were fun to do with palette knife and lots of paint! Oil, 9 x 12 for $250 after I sign it!

December 14 - Painting on Location, Riverside Mission Inn

Anyone who has been to Riverside has probably passed by the Mission Inn, famous for a thousand different things, not the least of which are the holiday light displays. I met up with another painting friend (Hi, Joan!) this afternoon for a quick session before the light disappeared. However I didn't capture the holiday lights on the building, as they clicked on two minutes after I left (and it was too dark to see my palette!) The palm tree on the right is actually much darker--the lights tonight washed out that upper right corner.
So this 10 x 8 acrylic came to a quick stage of almost finished while the sun set and the lights of the town blinked on. I like it because of the warm sunshine colors and the more somber colors found in the shadows. Fun to paint on location with the pill box setup, and using acrylics. They are still in the car, and I rest assured that they won't dry overnight, unlike the painting, which is completely dry! $200