Ocotillo Sunrise

This is a quick sketch of a section of the mountains above Anza Borrego, California. The ocotillo was blooming and it was a quiet morning. 8x10"

Desert Rain, Ocotillo

The skies were changing while I was there this March. The landscape and sky blend and combine to make interesting effects. This was painted on my mother's, Thelma, birthday.
11x14"

Palm Skirt

I was very attracted to the color and form of the California Fan Palms in the desert. I like the distant indications of the structures of Anza Borrego. 12x12

Palm Breeze

There are somethings happening in this painting I wish I knew how to get into others. 12x12

Palm Medium

This is another quick sketch of a California fan palm. I used several brushes and scraping tools for the textures and details in the drawing of the plants. 11x14

Palm Road

Here is a painting I was rushing through and made some changes that I intend to alter. 12x12

Palm Shadow

This is a quick sketch that I intend to work back into. I may develop the ground shapes and separate the different grounds. foreground, middle-ground, background. 12x12

Palm Van

I camped here for a couple days and just turned a different direction when I needed a new view. Here's my rig that barely made it home to Ventura the next day. It is still at the mechanic one week later. I have a love/hate relationship with it.

Palm Wide

This is a composition I explored forcing the top and bottom edges of the canvas with information. This is a little darker than the original. I named the paintings with cinematic descriptions. 11x14

Sunrise Palm

I had palms in most of my paintings on this desert trip. It is a motif I felt like exploring. This painting has a light red stain on the canvas and I cheated the shadows forward to help the depth of field. 12x12

Sunrise Peak

Sunrise peak is also a painting from the desert trip. I was surprised how fast the shadows change and made sure I addressed them first. I laid down a rose madder red wash to tone the canvas and let it pop through in this 5 min. sketch. 8x10

Palm Camel

The last few months I have been working on paintings in the studio, so I did not post. The following posts for March are from the trip I took to Anza  Borrego Ca.
This was the first one I did from the top of the Morango Casino parking structure at sunset.
Karen, my muse, said she saw a camel in the image; thus the name.