ELLIS WATERSHED

The Monday morning class of Camille Przewodek often comes to this watershed area in Petaluma to paint. During the rainy season lots of grasses grow and as time passes the colors vary from greens and golds, to reds and purples. Observing the color there again and again is reminiscent of Monet's haystack series. This was done on a sunny morning.

Oil on canvas board

9" X 12"

contact: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

GOLDEN HOUR SEA RANCH

Another view looking up from the bluff by the ocean at the edge of sunset. I thought I understood why the impressionists may have painted with broken color. When the wind is blowing you around and you have one hand steadying the easle, you have to paint that way!

9" X 12"

Oil on hardboard

contact: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

SEARANCH BLUFF AT SUNSET

The last light as the sun sets is called the 'golden hour' by painters. There is a brief time when the light is very orange-gold and the shadows very blue-violet. There was so much information and color out there, it was a challenge to simplify what I saw, paint it quickly, and battle the wind that whipped up at sunset.

Oil on canvas board
9" X 12"
contact: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

SEA RANCH COASTAL VIEW

I painted this view from the living room window looking down at the ranch style homes along the coastline in the early morning.


Oil on hardboard

9" X 12"

contact: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

SEA RANCH COLORS

Sea, sky, and golden grasses were the subject of this smaller painting. It was a distillation of the colors from several days of little house studies at Sea Ranch.

5" X 7"

Oil on hardboard

contact: lisagreenstein@gmail.com


SOLD

Sea Ranch Morning II

The view of ranch houses overlooking the ocean in the morning light was lovely to paint.

Oil on hardboard

5" X 7"

contact: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

SEA RANCH HOUSES IN THE MORNING

I shared a house with three other painters at Sea Ranch in September. I loved being so close to the ocean and the light there is so pastel and gentle. Reminds me of melons and mangoes. This was a view from the hill behind our place in the early morning.

6" X 8"

Oil on hard board

contact:lisagreenstein@gmail.com

BLOCKS, SHELL & LEMON IN OVERCAST LIGHT

This was the second study of these objects, painted in overcast light outdoors. The cast shadows are lighter and softer and the shadow side of the objects are warmer than in the full sun variation. I also noticed that objects colors appear more true to their natural hue (local color) than in the bright sun. These were done in three sittings using only a palette knife.

Oil on canvas board
9" X 12"

info: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

BLOCK, SHELL & LEMON IN SUN

Painting colored blocks and some simple objects on a colored cloth outdoors in varied kinds of light was the way Henry Hensche taught his students to discover for themselves how to interpret the light key. You have to struggle to really see the color of light by comparing everything with everything else. I painted this still life in full sun and then again in overcast. El Cerrito is a good place to do this in the summer. It invariably is overcast in the morning and burns off to full sun the afternoon!
I learned so much by doing this comparative study.

Oil on canvas board

9" X 12"

for more info: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

PLASTER CAST COLOR STUDY

This was a class still life study in the Hensche tradition. Every area of color is compared with every other area to re-create the effect of the illumination. After working outdoors with the fast changing light- this indoor exercise with spotlights seems much simpler.

Oil on canvas board

9" X 12"

contact:lisagreenstein@gmail.com

SPIRIT ROCK

This was painted on a summer morning outside the Spirit Rock Meditation Center. The place was named for this rock, which has some sort of bush growing over it. The early light was very pink and the distant hills looked that pink to me. I'm not sure what the rock story is - maybe part of a native American legend.

Oil on canvas board

9" X 12"

info: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

STILL LIFE COLOR STUDY

This is a study of light and color and was done in one sitting at  l'Atelier aux Couleurs- where I have been taking color classes for over a year. The challenge is to paint the color of the light more than the local color of the object and to paint one color note next to another by comparing value, warmth and hue. We use a palette knife, which gets more paint and color on the surface and less detail. Its difficult to do this, but really strengthens the seeing of color.
9 X 12"
Oil on canvas panel

MERCED RIVER

I am finally learning the pleasures of camping. I spent hours on a large rock overlooking this peaceful place near Yosemite last August. The river split around a small island and made a little water fall. This is solitude.

6" X 8"

Oil on maple board

for more information: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

MONTEZUMA SLOUGH

This is looking west from a little hill at Rush Ranch, part of the Solano Land Trust.  I painted this early in the morning, the light was high keyed. In the far distance you can see a freight train with orange cars, and a little fishing boat just behind the reeds. Rush Ranch is open to the public daily- great for hiking and picnic.

Oil on board
9" X 12"

SOLD

KING HILL VIEW 2

This was a second faster study from on top of King Hill looking out over the Suisun Valley. This is being shown at the show Seeing Solano, (see previous post). All of the pieces in the show are for sale and 50% of the proceeds will be donated to the land trust.

8" X 10" (11" X 14" framed)
Oil on canvas board
This is mounted on linen and framed in a white washed maple frame.

for more information: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

KING HILL VIEW 1

This plein aire painting is a view of the Suisun Valley from high on top of King Hill at King Ranch which is part of the Solano Land Trust. It will be exhibited in Seeing Solano, art bringing attention to the preservation efforts of the Land Trust. (See info below)

10" X 20"    Oil on board
SOLD


Seeing Solano

Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum

734 Marin Street, Vallejo CA

hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 12 – 4pm

 www.vallejomuseum.org

October 8–December 31, 2011

Opening Reception: Saturday October 8, 3:30–5:30pm

3:30pm brief Solano Land Trust presentation

Solano Land Trust through the eyes of artists

Twenty-five professional artists and photographers have organized themselves and made a commitment to produce a body of work inspired by Solano Land Trust’s open spaces and protected agricultural lands. The artists’ purpose is to bring public awareness and support to Solano Land Trust’s remarkable mission through exhibits and sales culminating in the 2012 Solano Land Trust Harvest Feast Benefit & Auction.

Each artist brings many years of professional study and practice to their efforts, working to express aspects of the visual splendor to be found in the sweeping vistas of King Ranch/Cordelia Hills Open Space, the flora and fauna of Jepson Prairie, and Lynch Canyon, the marshes of Rush Ranch, and the protected agricultural lands of Solano County’s corner of the Central Valley. Explore oak grasslands, vernal pools, tidal marshes, and our agricultural heritage through the eyes of painters and photographers working in a variety of disciplines and mediums to portray a rich visual portrait of the beauty and diversity of the natural landscape waiting to be discovered at the North Bay’s door step and to be protected for future generations.

http://www.solanolandtrust.org/Index.aspx

FIGURE 61

This model is also a brilliant artist and interesting person, as so many of the Bay Area models are.

I saw a one woman performance in San Francisco a few weeks ago called 'Figuratively Speaking', by another local model and actress, Lorraine Olsen. She did a terrific job of dramatizing her life as an artist's model. She addressed many of the questions people ask about how and why she entered and continues to enjoy the undressed profession.

Oil on board

11" X14"

for more information: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

FIGURE 60

A gorgeous ballet dancer modeled for us that night. I was trying to paint her long limbs, angularity and those intelligent dancer's feet.


Oil on board

11" X 14"

information: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

FIGURE 60

A gorgeous ballet dancer modeled for us that night. I was trying to paint her long limbs, angularity and those intelligent dancer's feet.


Oil on board

11" X 14"

information: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

PETALUMA GRANARY BUILDING

I found a bit of shade on this hot sunny morning to stand in while painting this view of the Granary building. The little umbrellas are sheltering the other students who were painting along the river.

9" X 12"
Oil on board

information: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

CHINA BEACH- CUPCAKE ISLAND

I painted this little study while standing out on the long dock at China Beach in Marin on a very windy morning. I like to call this little island 'Cupcake Island' rather than the name its known by- 'Rat Island'. Not sure why- it looked like a cupcake to me. I was trying to get the sense of distance and light. I'm pleased with this little study.

Oil on board
6"X 8"
contact: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

CHINA BEACH

The view is of the cove and distant land formations at  China Beach in Marin on a June afternoon.  I was working on getting the layers of atmospheric distance and making an interesting composition.

6" X 8"

Oil on panel

more information: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

PETALUMA WATER SHED

I was really interested in painting the gathering clouds on the horizon at the water shed area. The distant trees look a bit like distant buildings. This was a one session painting.

Oil on canvas board

9" X 12"

more information: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

FIGURE 59
Life Model in Costume

I used a palette knife to paint this costumed model. It's difficult to get the detail with knives, but the color layers on more opaquely and so is much more vivid.

Oil on canvas board

11" X 14"

for more information: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

PETALUMA FIELD BY THE RIVER

I painted this back in March during Camille Przewodek's Monday class. It was an overcast day which made the sky-ground relationship closer in value (value=grey scale) and the colors of the field were more saturated than they would look on a sunny day. I'm studying the effects of light and atmosphere on color and trying to get these effects in my studies. I really enjoy challenging myself.

Oil on canvas board
9" X 12"

information: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

FIGURE 58
Life Model Reclining

I think the soft colors of this painting express the gentle quality of this model.  I tried to get the sense of how she was nestled into the pillows, how they supported her weight.

My blog feed to my google group list was broken for a month, so if you wish to see any posts you may have missed you can look at them directly on the blog. Thanks for looking!

http://daily-painting-practice.blogspot.com

Oil on canvas board

11" X 14"

information:lisagreenstein@gmail.com

FIGURE 57

Life model in a bra and argyle socks. I had some struggles to get the drawing correct in the beginning. The perspective is looking up from below, which means the head needs to be smaller and the feet larger than they would appear straight on. I am still working at getting more and better color into my paintings, so that becomes a challenge when a lot of time is spent correcting the initial drawing. I'm happy with the results, although I think less (detail) would have been more with her face.

Oil on panel
11"X14"
for more information: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

HIGHWAY OVERPASS

I tried the another painting in the same location- this time working faster and simplifying. It looks a little Theibaudish to me now.

Oil on canvas panel

9" X 12"

information: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

MARSH & OVERPASS

This was a study of the 101 overpass by a marshy area in Sonoma County. Colors as they appear in the particular space and light of this time & place were the subject of this study.


Oil on canvas board
9" X 12"

for more information: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

FIGURE 56


She posed like a sculpture which made for an unusual composition. I was working on seeing and painting the form as color shifts.


Oil on canvas board


11" X 14"

for more information: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

FIGURE 55

Colorful and dramatic, this model made me think of the absinthe drinkers of the impressionist period.


Oil on canvas board

11" X 14"


for more information: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

OLD BRICK BUILDINGS


These  industrial  buildings in Petaluma were glowing orange-gold in the distance behind a pink grass field in the morning sunlight.

9" X 12"
oil on canvas board

for more information: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

RUSTY BOAT

I was thinking about some prints I had seen by Hiroshige when I painted this study of a rusty boat by the Petaluma River. His compositions would often use a foreground element to frame the background, or lead you into the distance. 

Oil on canvas board
9" X 12"

information: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

Figure 54

She is curled up on a quilt with a Chinese symbol applique. I think the symbol is 'double happiness'- not sure.  I tried to portray her golden skin tones in the studio lighting- which had both hot and cool toned light sources.

Oil on canvas board

11" X 14"

information: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

BUILDINGS BY THE RIVER

A quick color study of industrial buildings by the Petaluma River on an overcast morning.


oil on canvas panel

9" X 12"

more information: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

Petaluma River & Bridge

I was trying to loosen up and paint the colors of the river, trees, bridge and distant road with a palette knife. I can't get as caught up in details with a palette knife. This was a quick study.

oil on canvas panel

9" X 12"

for more information: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

FIGURE 52

I recently finished making adjustments and repainting areas of this painting.  This artist's model had a very pure and fresh quality.

11" X 14"
oil on canvas board

for more information: lisagreenstein@gmail.com

SUNNY DAY ESTUARY

I was trying to get the light key, as well as thinking about the tree shapes in a  Lundy Siegrist painting I had seen at Epperson gallery the weekend before. I don't usually use such a riot of colors- taking some risks with the palette knife.

Oil on canvas board
9" X 12"

for more information~ lisagreenstein@gmail.com

LIMANTOUR ESTUARY
Limantour beach is a hidden gem in Marin County. This estuary view is just outside the beach area, looking south.
I want to share a link to a San Francisco org that gives 100% of donated funds directly to citizen relief efforts in No. Japan~  http://www.jcccnc.org/giving/index.htm
Oil on canvas board
10" X 20"
for more information~ lisagreenstein@gmail.com
Sold

ALIA AND THE BUTTERFLY

My adorable grandniece about a year ago. This is soon to go in the mail to her mom and dad in Atlanta!

Oil on canvas

20" X 24"

FIGURE 51

Stephanie is a favorite Bay Area model. There was  a gallery show of art-works  just of her a few years ago.  Artist-models are more than just subjects, they each bring something personal and special to the exchange. Besides their physicality, their inner qualities get transmitted to the artists and hopefully show in the work.

Oil on canvas board
11" X 14"
for more information~ lisagreenstein@gmail.com

TOMALES BAY

An early morning view looking out over Tomales Bay. Peace and serenity and great oysters!

Oil on canvas board
10" X 20"

for more information~ lisagreenstein@gmail.com

GREY DAY WINDOW VIEW

I look at this house across the street from my kitchen window many times a day. I love studying the effects of weather on this familiar view. I plan to do more of these in different seasons and times of day, reminiscent of Monet's haystack series.


Oil on canvas board
10" X 10"

sold

PACHECO POND

 

This is a protected natural place near Novato in Marin. The grasses were wonderful colors in late fall.

 

 Oil on canvas board

 

9" X 12"

For more information, contact Lisa by email.

GUALALA OVERLOOK

 

I painted this on a September afternoon from a bluff overlooking the Gualala river where it joins the Pacific.

I hope to return to paint this majestic place again.

 

9" X 12"

 

Oil on hardboard

 

 

Contact Lisa for price.

 

 

BABA & MASTAN

Meher Baba with his dog, Mastan from an old black & white photo. I invented the background trees and foliage color. This was done a few years ago, but I thought I would post it in honor of Baba's birthday- Feb. 25, 1894.

Gouache on paper matted and framed.

Contact Lisa for price.

SEA RANCH CLIFFS

Overlooking the rocky Northern California coast on a summer afternoon. I'm way behind in posting paintings. This was my observation of the color of the light as the sun lowered on the horizon.

Oil on panel

9" X 12"

contact for current price