Thursday, August 19, 2010

Amongst the grapes again en plein air

Yesterday the weather felt like the Sacramento Valley was on the coast...sunny with a soft, cool breeze! We are having the coolest summer I have ever witnessed. That ole jet stream continues to dip over California. Anyway, a fellow artist and I are planning another winery paint out workshop except this one will be in early October and will be in the beautiful Sierra foothills of Amador county (gold rush territory and now a huge wine growing region). We were scouting out a winery for the workshop. These are two watercolor sketches I knocked off (n between wine tasting) and at the winery we chose for the workshop location. The vista view is OK but I'm not thrilled with it. The lone haystack and looking out between low handing tree branches, I'm more excited about. It is a mixed media sketch. It's watercolor and gouache. I packed four color prints off of Nathan Fowke's blog for inspiration in doing this particular painting. He works mostly in opaque guoache and his sketches are about 6"X8" as are both of these. For me, lots of fussy detail is the bane of my artistic existence, and anytime I find a minimalist like Nathan, I use that person to keep me on track and stay a happy camper. He is a superb colorist and painter. Check him out!

6 comments:

Ann Rogers said...

I hardly know what to comment on after looking at your last few posts...the grapes, the plein aire, the sketches..all are incredible. Your blog has been a real visual treat!

Autumn Leaves said...

Awesome work, yet again, David. This appears a slightly different style than some of your other works, yet no less beautiful. I always enjoy visiting too!

Kathy said...

Cool summer? It has been one of the hottest in Indiana...but I guess you Californians are keeping the breeze to yourselves as you are drinking all of the wine :)

I love what you are doing with the vineyards and especially the grapes. Pour me some juice and keep these juicy paintings coming.

David Lobenberg said...

Thanks Ann and Autumn.

David Lobenberg said...

Kathy, yes, more to come. I want about 10 for my workshop show and sale.

Sharon Lynn Williams Fine Art said...

Thanks for pointing out Nathan! What an amazing artist.