Monday, February 1st

We'll see you at Port Costa. The forecast says there is a "slight chance of rain." The TV said it would be drizzle. Directions: Head toward Crockett on 80. Take the Crockett/Pomona St exit, which curves under the bridge. Make an extreme left, almost an u turn, at the light. This will take you again under the freeway/bridge and to Pomona St., Crockett's main drag. Continue on Pomona St. past the lights and residential part of town. Pomona St. becomes Carquinez Scenic Drive as you exit Crockett. Continue and turn left on Canyon Lake Dr. Continue to the end, where there is a parking lot facing the strait. We meet at this parking lot.

Orange Trees at Muir's Orchard

Luckily for us, it was a mostly sunny day during our second week at John Muir's Historical Site. This is a very small oil painting for me (11 x 14"). I was in a hurry because I got there late, and did not have time to work larger. It is certainly true that painting will get you to really see things for the first time: I wanted to paint the orange trees I had seen before because they reminded me of the orange groves I had experienced in my childhood. Joan and I had both been interested in this humdrum house but she ended up painting a different view. I focused on making the grass feel grassy.

John Muir's Plant Sprayer

The park ranger told me that John sprayed some nasty chemicals like copper sulfate on the fruit trees and grapes. They wanted to kill bugs. I guess I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on not knowing how un-environmentally friendly those chemicals are. I didn't know what to do for the background, I didn't want to paint stuff back there. I just made the fence dark, then darker, and the violet distance is just there. Then the grass became a problem. Maybe I should have filled up the paper more with the wagon. I added the shadows late, there were some cast shadows from the tree behind me. I incorporated that with the shadow under the wagon to help the composition.
Larry Hatfield

Saturday, January 30

We return to the John Muir Historical Site in Martinez. Thank you Marilyn, it is a lovely place. Parking fee is $3. There is water and restrooms.

Directions: Take 80 toward Sacramento, take 4 toward Martinez, then exit Alhambra and go under freeway. Turn left on Alhambra and turn directly left into parking lot. You can also get there via 680.

Their address is:4202 Alhambra Avenue, Martinez, CA 94553-3826 Phone:(925)228-8860

John Muir's Orchard

John Muir's house sits atop a hill on vastly reduced lot. Only two small orchards remain behind it. The house did not call me and neither did the adobe. I even dared think the orchards did not hold a lot of interest at first, but I was to be proved wrong. The longer I sat there, the more interesting those parts shrouded by the hills' shadows became. But I had chosen the wide paved path with the shadows cast by the orchard. This was an interesting 18 x 24" oil because it took a life of its own. I would not change the colors if I had to do it again and I like the color harmony, but the painting as a whole feels a little scary, like the orchard is haunted or something. Joan mentioned a "tension" between the elements that I also see. Is there (should there always be) a focal point?

John Muir Historical Site

Monday it was raining. I was already to paint in Port Costa so I decided to redraw the painting and play with the color and explore some of the direction my painting seems to be going. I think I still prefer the first one though.

John Muir Historical Site

Saturday I painted southern view of the John Muir building— augmenting it a little after returning. I think it was better before the augmenting— then again maybe not. I wanted to develop the color a little more.

Monday, January 25

Session cancelled because of rain. We will try again next week to get toPort Costa. Marilyn says: "There is parking and cafes, although open sporadically. Restrooms are scarce to nonexistent, so you can use the one located before coming to Port Costa at the Crockett Hills Regional Park. Lots of quaint houses on hillside, historical buildings, cars, people - not much straight scenery." Larry says the bar in Port Costa claims to have over 400 different kinds of beer!

Directions: Head toward Crockett on 80. Take the Crockett/Pomona St exit, which curves under the bridge. Make an extreme left, almost an u turn, at the light. This will take you again under the freeway/bridge and to Pomona St., Crockett's main drag. Continue on Pomona St. past the lights and residential part of town. Pomona St. becomes Carquinez Scenic Drive as you exit Crockett. Continue and turn left on Canyon Lake Dr. Continue to the end, where there is a parking lot facing the strait. We meet at this parking lot.

John Muir Historic Site

Matt and I arrived a bit late (too much browsing in antique shops in Martinez) and knew the sun would not stay for long. The orchard has some lovely bright green grass and leafless trees standing in formation. If you can make it next week and haven't been inside, remember to go into the house and take a look – great views from the top and some huge traditional landscapes on display plus, lots of info from the docents.

I kept wondering how long the grass will stay this green and really enjoyed the strange grays and pinks of the bare branches against the dark evergreens.

John Muir's House II

I darkened the shadow side of the building and intensified the color in the windows a little.

John Muir Historical Site

A view of John Muir's home. I struggled with the perspective, and the detail drawing so long that I only had an hour to paint, then finished it at home. I dumped a lot of detail before I was done, but it was a struggle not to be distracted by it. I eliminated a very big tree that was obscuring some of the house. At first I thought I would use it as the right frame element, and there was a palm on the left, but I decided to leave both out.

Larry Hatfield

Saturday, January 23

We'll see you at the John Muir Historical Site in Martinez. Marilyn says, "There is a mansion, an orchard and other buildings to paint." The JMHS is open Saturdays but not Mondays. There is parking and restrooms. This site has a picture of the mansion.

Directions: Take 80 toward Sacramento, take 4 toward Martinez, then exit Alhambra and go under freeway. Turn left on Alhambra and turn directly left into parking lot. You can also get there via 680.

Their address is:4202 Alhambra Avenue, Martinez, CA 94553-3826 Phone:(925)228-8860

Marion at Cesar Chavez

I had fun with this painting. I was perched on a little hill and the water was choppy and reminded me of the Van Gogh I just looked at on my new 2010 calender. Then the little sailboat showed up just like the painting. I was doing the water when Marion my neighbor walked by doing her exercises. I have run into her at inspiration point also. But this time I quickly put her into the painting. She didn't see me. It is an 18 by 24 acrylic. Karen

Monday, January 18

Cancelled due to rain. We'll try again next week. Marilyn had nominated Port Costa for the Monday session (see photo on post below). She says: "There is parking and cafes, although open sporadically. Restrooms are scarce to nonexistent, so you can use the one located before coming to Port Costa at the Crockett Hills Regional Park. Lots of quaint houses on hillside, historical buildings, cars, people - not much straight scenery." Larry says the bar in Port Costa claims to have over 400 different kinds of beer!

Directions: Head toward Crockett on 80. Take the Crockett/Pomona St exit, which curves under the bridge. Make an extreme left, almost an u turn, at the light. This will take you again under the freeway/bridge and to Pomona St., Crockett's main drag. Continue on Pomona St. past the lights and residential part of town. Pomona St. becomes Carquinez Scenic Drive as you exit Crockett. Continue and turn left on Canyon Lake Dr. Continue to the end, where there is a parking lot facing the strait. We meet at this parking lot.

Asia Section of U.C. Botanical Garden

I wanted to do something really simple, then I saw this. Oh, well, next time. I didn't feel up to the half sheet size, so this is about 9.25x13.25

Larry Hatfield

Saturday, January 16

We return to the UC Botanical Gardens on Saturday. Address: 200 Centennial Drive. It is close to where we went to paint on Grizzly Peak. For directions, check this UC Botanical Gardens page. We'll meet at the small kiosk at the entrance to the gardens. There is a $7 adult and $5 senior fee to enter the gardens, and $3.50 to park.

Port Costa

I painted this scene in Port Costa on Thursday. It was a beautiful sunny day. There are some wonderful buildings and good stuff to paint. The town was practically empty. Restrooms are scarce to nonexistent, so you can use the one located before coming to Port Costa at the Crockett Hills Regional Park (we painted there before- on top of the hill) or roughing it is always a possibility. The cafes are only open sporadically. There is only one large parking lot at the end of Canyon Lake, so not hard to find. Hopefully it won't rain.

Marilyn

Cesar Chavez Marina, Berkeley

Maria E is rather high key painting—on a bright sunny day. This was a good excercise for reflections and simplifying complexity. The question for me is often how much detail. When should detail become texture or pattern or just a brush stroke—How much to leave out to accomplish my vision.

Marilyn Hill

Cesar Chavez East, Berkeley

This was a cold grey day at Ceasar Chavez Park. I needed another jacket, but didn't want to leave the painting to get another layer. I blame the weather for the painting having lots of splotches and hand in the paint marks. Oh well.... I continue to play with darks in this painting trying to keep them energetic without to much muddiness.

Marilyn Hill

Cesar Chavez Park

It looked dreary when I left home, but by the time I got to the park, it had lightened up. The sun would come out briefly later. I liked the mass of shrubs and a pine tree near the water's edge by the walkway. This is the first larger painting that I have tried out doors. It is a half sheet, about 15x22" paper size. I used a 2" in. brush for the sky and water and the under-painting. for the foreground. After I got home, I made the distant water line more distinct, fading it to the foreground. I experimented with perinone orange a little. You probably can't find it on the painting as I was not too bold with it. I was inspired by a Pam Glover painting that I saw at the Epperson Gallery
Larry Hatfield

Monday, Jan 11

We return to Cesar Chavez State Park. We are going to the tree-lined part of the park.The southeastern portion of Cesar Chavez State Park is not muddy and has a pleasant distribution of water, trees and bushes. Even after the rain, paved paths should make walking and dragging carts possible. The park itself is big enough for all to wander, and has bathrooms and water. The dog section (to the west) is far away, enclosed, and relatively small.

Directions: On 80, take the University Ave exit and head towards the

water. Turn right on Marina Blvd. Turn left on Spinnaker Way, all the

way to the small parking lot at the end, which is where we'll meet."

Painting for Saturday, Jan. 9

We are going to the UC Botanical Gardens on Saturday. It is at 200 Centennial drive. That is close to where we went to paint on Grizzly Peak. Check the directions at UC Botanical Gardens website for more information.

There is a $7 adult and $5

senior fee to enter the gardens, and $3.50 to park.

Karen

73 Out of Water

Marilyn and I are holding up the reputation of the East Bay Plein Air Painters. We were the only ones again this week. We decided to walk from Cesar Chavez Park to the Berkeley Marina and this boat was up on some supports out of the water. I liked my value sketch, then when I drew this on the larger paper, I thought I should have made the boat bigger, focused more on that. I used masking fluid to keep the mast and some of the lines while I painted the dark tree background. I used some on the tops of some of the pampas grass too. It has been easy to work wet with watercolors lately, the humidity is high and the air is cool so you don't have to worry about it drying too fast.

Larry Hatfield

Monday Jan 4

We will start painting in the New Year at Cesar Chavez State Park. We are going to the tree-lined part of the park.The southeastern portion of Cesar Chavez State Park is not muddy and has a pleasant distribution of water, trees and bushes. Even after the rain, paved paths should make walking and dragging carts possible. The park itself is big enough for all to wander, and has bathrooms and water. The dog section (to the west) is far away, enclosed, and relatively small.

Directions: On 80, take the University Ave exit and head towards the

water. Turn right on Marina Blvd. Turn left on Spinnaker Way, all the

way to the small parking lot at the end, which is where we'll meet."