Annie's Annuals

Details, details! Annie's Annuals is full of beautiful flowers in all colors, and leaves in every shade of green.

I chose this view of a trellis near the entrance. When I began, the day was overcast and cool. By 1 PM the day had turned sunny and rather warm. Obviously I made no effort to keep up with the changing light.

Benicia Boat Wreckage

Larry, I love the way you handled this composition.

The design is so dramatic. I think it is your best effort yet.

Hoffman Marsh, belatedly

Hoffman Marsh was the very first landscape I painted with the East Bay Plein Air group. I was worried about the lack of a restroom, but it turned out not to be a problem--I got so wrapped up in painting, other considerations never entered in.

There were about seven of us painting this spot, and we didn't stray too far from each other, so we all had a chance to chat and look at each other's works.

I had a lot of fun with the grasses, and got a bit carried away with painting them. The technique sort of breaks down in the two yellowish masses at the right, one near and one smaller and more distant. These areas were in fact quite wild and wooly, but they don't read intelligibly in the painting. I'm tempted to repaint them in a tamer, more controlled way (like the yellowish grassy banks at the left, which read as grass).

Benicia and China Camp

China Camp has so many good views, it seems inexhaustable. My first day there, I set up next to where Vicki was working, on a hillside pathway, and did this view of a cove with an island and a little inland pool. The day got brighter and brighter, and the little pool looked impossibly blue. Bicyclists zoomed past us on the pathway, calling out their opinions of our paintings as they went by.


My second time at China Camp, I didn't even leave the parking lot. Instead I set up near some other ladies from a different plein air group, and painted this view of a long pier and some buildings. It was great to meet more painters, and I joined them for a critique at the end of the session.


Benicia was so windy that I wimped out and positioned myself on the leeward side of the cute little restroom building. This kept me and my canvas from blowing away, but offered rather limited views. I hate everything about this painting of Benicia.

Ships at Benicia

This acrylic is 15" by 30". At first I didn't feel up to the large size. And especially after I slammed the trunk of the car on my thumb. The pain finally went away and I was able to find a warm and windless view of the ships. There was also a very pretty marina to my left. But I chose the view to the right of the Carquinez bridge. The large size was much better for my brushwork. I think I need to stay about this size or larger.

Karen

Benicia Boat Wreckage

Benicia = windy. I think I was on D Street near the old boat yard. I could see other interesting subjects within that old yard. Today it just felt good to get out and paint again after being gone for two weeks. I didn't figure out how to do the water the way I saw it, but decided to leave it. The tide came in an covered all my dark sandy beach on the right side before I got to painting it, so I guessed.

August 31

Annie's Annuals is a spacious, sunny nursery in the middle of the industrial part of Richmond. There is a very pretty area full of summer blooming plants, as well as row upon row of tables set with less showy specimens. There will also be people browsing, a picturesque hen house, and lots and lots of space to spread out. The manager just e-mailed me, granting us permission to paint there. They open at 10 am. Click here for a map. AA has a parking lot and restrooms. Bring your own drinking and painting water.

August 24

We return to Benicia's waterfront. It is not as far as it seems, just 20 min from Berkeley, but be prepared for the toll after the Carquinez bridge. Take 80 across the Carquinez bridge, and take the 780 exit toward Benicia. Exit through the "East 2nd St." exit, but please note: you will be going in the north direction, as you cannot get off the exit and go south on East 2nd St. So go back (north) one block on East 2nd St., and turn around to go south on East 2nd St. Then turn right on Military Highway, and left on First Street, at the corner with the Civic Center Park. Go all the way down 1st St. until you're near the water, where the restored old railroad depot is. Please park at the bottom of First St. by the old RR Depot, where there is a parking lot.

Catching Striped Bass in Benicia

I couldn't get as close to the fishermen as I wanted because of the wind. I took shelter next to a small building as a wind block. There was not place to stake my easel. It is a great easel but I have been hard on it and it is having problems. It is starting to become clear that subject matter is a key thing for me. More thought needs to be given to it as an element.

Karen

Benicia's Waterfront

A local artist approached me while I was painting this acrylic on birch panel (16 x 24"), to mention this was "one of the most painted views in the area." "Very original I guess I'm not!" I thought. What can I say, artists like rotted, rusty, old things, the trashier the better. There's beauty in them, and so most of us were attracted to this spot. What I didn't count on was the weather, but I'm sure my collaborators will fill you in on that. The details did consume all of my three hours, maybe more. Even my trail mix melted (but I didn't realize it), so I ended up smeared in chocolate thinking it was [the pigment] burnt umber. Rebeca

Emeryville Marina

While I was painting this view of the water and boats, a nice professional photographer, Nick Sebastian, engaged me in conversation. He took pix of our group and here they are. That's Rebeca in the beige hat.

The water level changed a lot while I was painting. When I started out, the water was so low that rocks and mud were visible (as you can see from the photo of my painting-in-progress). But after a couple of hours had passed, the water rose enough to cover all of that, as shown in the finished painting. This was a little frustrating, but the underwater detail I established early probably helped make the water look more realistic later on.

Diana Blackwell

August 17

Larry recommended Benicia's waterfront. It is not as far as it seems, just 20 min from Berkeley, but be prepared for the toll after the Carquinez bridge. Take 80 across the Carquinez bridge, and take the 780 exit toward Benicia. Exit through the "East 2nd St." exit, but please note: you will be going in the north direction, as you cannot get off the exit and go south on East 2nd St. So go back (north) one block on East 2nd St., and turn around to go south on East 2nd St. Then turn right on Military Highway, and left on First Street, at the corner with the Civic Center Park. Go all the way down 1st St. until you're near the water, where the restored old railroad depot is. There is some kind of community organization store in the depot now. Please park at the bottom of First St. by the old RR Depot, where there is a parking lot. Click here for a map. We recommend the satellite view.

Dimond Park

I enjoyed the city park feel of Dimond. It definitely a well used and loved neighborhood park. Although I don't feel this small acrylic 14'' by 18" is totally finished I really like the painterly feel at this point. I will post it again after I do more work.

Karen Zullo Sherr

Dimond Park, Oakland

Karen, Tomas and I painted near the playground and met some friendly folks from the area. This 16 x 24" acrylic on birch panel shows a member of the Dimond Park Advisory Council and the park director, chatting in front of us. They asked for permission to shoot some pictures, which will appear in their blog. They were very interested in the fact that they had never seen artists at their park, working so openly. We also had several visitors, all from the neighborhood. Tomas brought a big easel, a dolly, and a table on which to work in a large format. We hope to see him again, perhaps in the weekend group that will be forming soon. Rebeca

August 10

Diana suggested we go to Dimond Park in Oakland. Click on the name for a map. The address is 3860 Hanly Rd, Oakland, CA‎. Phone: (510) 238-2082‎ Berkeley residents can take Highway 13 to Park Blvd. (west), then make a left on Wellington. The rest of us are better off taking 580 to Park Blv (east), then making a right on Wellington.

Diana says "It's not very far away, has parking and restrooms, and offers an interesting view of a creekbed between two rocky cliffs with some rather picturesque ruins (from bridges)." The park is small enough that if you park on the street you will still be able to find us.

Painting Under the Oak

I almost ran out of gas on the way to China Camp. I loved the oak by the road where Marilyn was last week, but did not want to paint the same view she had done so well, so I turned my head to the left and did a different view of the same marsh. I sat down to paint quite contentedly when a sudden breeze flipped my palette. It landed face down on my shoes. After scraping the blobs of color off my boots, I settled for doing what I could. At around 11:30 the fog dissipates and the sun comes out, changing the entire color scheme but I didn't have to worry. A minute after I stepped back to look at the painting, the wind blew the easel and the attached 24 x 24" birch panel. "Oh well," I thought to myself, "at least it's acrylic, the paint's dry." I re-arranged everything, sat down again, and a wasp gall the size of a tennis ball fell on the truck, scaring the heck out of me. By then I was hungry so I ate some trail mix, pondering what to make of this nature plot. I managed to finish close to 2 pm, after getting bitten my multiple female marsh mosquitoes, and completed the last details in my living room.

Island in the Marsh, China Camp

The fog was beginning to burn off and gave an interesting sky. The bright blue showing through the white/gray/purple fog. This is only one end of the Island that looks strangely marooned in the marsh. I don't think I captured the patterns and colors in the marsh very well, but to add to it would probably destroy it. There is still some orange fuzzy stuff on the pickle weed showing.