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Experiments in Paint
Painting is one of the most challenging endeavors. With every subject, and every painting there are new challenges and lessons learned. I think of each painting as a new experiment. This journal documents the journey.Archives
Category Archives: Laguna Beach
Shimmering Sea
Even though it is January, here in Southern California, we just experienced a little heat wave. On Friday, I went to Laguna Beach on the north end of Heisler Park and set up to paint. I had worn several layers of clothing, but ended up painting barefoot and shirtless. Despite the warmth, it is still winter, which means that the light still rakes across the landscape at an acute angle and the light can be blinding.
Shimmering Sea 11 x 14, Oil on Linen
What drew me to this scene was that as you looked across the water, the foam on the water caught the light of the sun, yet to adequately capture that, I had to depict every other value as much, much darker. The second problem I faced, was the color of the water. As I looked at the water, I thought it looked violet then green then blue, red, yellow, orange, all at the same time. Clearly the hue was very desaturated, so I chose a color (violet), and increased the saturation (chroma). I thought that it may be an interesting contrast to the yellow glare. Lastly, I exaggerated the “S-shape” of the sea glare to lead the eye through the painting.
Warm Laguna
Painting in the late afternoon light is challenging because the scene in front of you changes so quickly. It also can be rewarding. Sometimes as I scan thumbnails of my paintings, I feel a “sameness” of color palate, a lot of yellows, blues and greens. Painting in the waning afternoon light, changes all that.
Warm Laguna, Oil on Linen 12 x 16
On a Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago, I set out to the North Laguna Beach trailhead with a commanding view of Laguna Main Beach, set up, and began to paint; knowing that like it or not, the light would be completely gone in 90 minutes. The warm setting sun, caused the sky to be a pale green, the distant hills to become lavender, and the foreground trees to light up in oranges and reds. This painting is “looser” than others I have painted recently, but I guess that is the trade off, when you are racing the sun.
Also posted in impressionism, plein air, Seascape
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Laguna Beach Vista
This morning, I had a sudden change of plans which left me with an unexpected day to paint. At the recent art show I noticed several paintings of Laguna beach with some beautiful eucalyptus trees. My friend, artist Carolyn Hesse-Lowe, an artist from San Diego, told me about a path into the Laguna Wilderness area at the top of one of the residential streets in north Laguna. It was an interesting location, and I could see that there were several ways to paint the scene. In the future, I may try this scene in a more horizontal format.
Laguna Beach Vista 11 x 14
There is another aspect of this painting which I found interesting and enjoyable. I used more paint than usual and applied the paint quickly (see below a detail view of this painting), I also usually tend to paint at a “higher key”, in other words fairly light paintings, and I made sure to not go too light, so that I would have enough of the value scale to make the crashing waves the lightest value in the painting.
Although, both trees were eucalyptuses, i exaggerated the difference in color between them.
Also posted in plein air, Seascape
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Canyon Light
On Monday, the second day of the Laguna invitational, I decided to paint the fading light of the Laguna Canyon. I had mentioned in a previous post, that when the light changes rapidly, some artists will choose to do a small field study, and then work the painting into a larger size in the studio. Instead of that approach, I chose a smaller canvas, and mixed enough paint to be able to apply the paint rapidly during the 20 minutes or so in which the light effect is visible.
Canyon Light 9 x 12
Thanks to Doug Stotts a fellow artist who happened to be painting on location and took this picture.
Joseph Kleitsch
Joseph Kleitsch (June 6, 1885 – Nov 16, 1931), a Hungarian born artist who primarily painted portraits, but is best remembered for his depictions of Laguna Beach and San Juan Capistrano. His depictions of Laguna Beach evoke a much simpler time. It is interesting to see the drastic changes in the character of this beach town. The hills and streams in his paintings are still recognizable.
One critic described his his colorful paintings as “veritable singing tapestries of color.” He and his wife settled in Laguna Beach in 1920, and quickly became involved in the Laguna art community. Between 1922 and 1925 he was very productive, he painted many variations of the seaside town. One critic wrote, that he had captured Laguna Beach “inside and out- its hills, rocks, its beating surf, its quaint streets, its lovely gardens, its handsome women.” (1)
Many of his paintings depict “Old Laguna” before the structures were torn down to make way for apartment buildings, cottages, and administrative buildings.
From Top to Bottom:
Old Laguna, c. 1923-24. Oil on Canvas, 18 x 21″. Private collection
Reposer, Pont Neuf, Paris, 1927. Oil on Cavas, 30 x 36″, Reed and Chris Halladay Collection.
Rancho near Capistrano, 1924, Oil on Canvas, 20 x 22″. Private collection,
1. Joseph Kleitsch: A Kaleidoscope of Color. 2007. by Trenton, Patricia
Also posted in biographical note, impressionism, Landscape, plein air
Tagged Biographical sketch
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Edgar Payne – Seascapes
Edgar A. Payne (March 1, 1883 – April 8, 1947), is known for paintings of the American West. He traveled extensively, painting in Europe, Mexico, Canada, and across the United States. In 1918, he made Laguna Beach his home and organized the Laguna Beach Art Association (becoming its first president), although he continued his painting trips.
Painting a seascape can be challenging. Everything is in motion and every wave is different from the last. Probably more so than other outdoor painting situations, the artist must interpret shape, design, and color.
Here are some of Edgar Payne’s paintings of the California coast.
From Top to Bottom:
Surf at Laguna 28 x 32 inches
Laguna Coastline 28 x34 inches
Rough Seas
Also posted in Edgar Payne, impressionism, plein air, Seascape
Tagged Biographical sketch
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Laguna Town Mist
Laguna Beach is a privileged town on the California coast. It boasts numerous picturesque inlets and quiet coves and beautiful houses cling to the cliffs and overlook the Pacific Ocean. It was perhaps the town’s natural beauty that drew painters to form an art colony there in the early 20th century. It is perhaps fitting that as plein air painting has experienced a renewed interest, one of the earliest places to have a resurgence was Laguna Beach, CA.
Overlooking the older section of town where the Laguna Canyon opens up to the coast, is Cliff Drive, where on most days you have an unobstructed view of the city and the historic Laguna Hotel. I have driven past this spot many times, and even in the past attempted to paint it. This year I wanted to attempt to paint it on a day with heavy moisture in the air to accentuate the atmospheric effects of distance.
On this particular morning, the sun was trying to break through the marine layer. After several hours I had the completed the painting on the left. 
As always I took the painting home and was unsettled by several areas on the painting, and a couple of days later, oiled a couple of sections of painting, and re-worked several elements. Below I include a sketch.
Immediately after completing the painting, I noticed that the roofline at the bottom of the painting “A” covered almost the entire inferior part of the painting. It blocked the eye’s entry into the painting and was “uninteresting. I shortened the roofline, accentuated the eave, and placed a few more peaked roofs to the right to give an understanding that we are looking down a hill. To make it easier for the viewer to “enter” the picture, I put some brighter color and higher contrast (the windows) as labeled in “D“.
Before, the areas with the highest contrast and most detail was at the reddish trees and house in the area marked “B“, the trees seemed too “wispy” and kept the movement of the eye from progressing further in the painting, so I gave the trees stronger shapes and de-emphasized the houses beneath them.
Finally, the eye has an easier time moving up to point “C“, the focal point. The eucalyptus tree labeled “C” had too much detail and attracted too much attention. I wanted the eye to stay on the street in front of the historic hotel, so I simplified its’ shape.
Although the changes were fairly minor, I feel that it is a stronger painting. What do you think?
Golden West College Group Show
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