Missouri-River,-near-St.-Louis,-MO

Missouri-River,-near-St.-Louis,-MO
Originally uploaded by Spencer Mackay

I was in Saint Louis, MO a couple of weeks ago and had a little time before my flight back to LA. I found a place where I could walk down to the Missouri River west of town and I had just enough time to record this sketch as I sat under a big two direction highway bridge. The noise of the traffic was above and the peaceful powerful river in front of me was like another world.

Seaside-HIghland-Games,-Ventura,-CA

Seaside-HIghland-Games,-Ventura,-CA
Originally uploaded by Spencer Mackay

Drum Major at the Seaside HIghland games. A wonderful day of bagpipes, athletic competition, herding dogs and carnival food.

As soon as I got home, I ordered a Clan Mackay t-shirt on line. This was a little line sketch from my new WC Moleskine sketchbook.

Ipanema-Beach,-Rio,-Brazil

Ipanema-Beach,-Rio,-Brazil
Originally uploaded by Spencer Mackay

View west towards Two Brothers standing on Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.  I was there last year and the late afternoon light and the exotic view was captivating.

Water color done as a class exercise.

Afternoon-in-Yverdon,-Switzerland

Afternoon-in-Yverdon,-Switzerland
Originally uploaded by Spencer Mackay

More homework for my watercolor class.  Trying to capture atmosphere and master a difficult medium.

Church-north-of-Paris2

Church-north-of-Paris2
Originally uploaded by Spencer Mackay

This was the second attempt.  Sometimes after you do a painting, it's good to try a second one to see if you can get more by doing less.  I could probably easily do a couple more paintings of this, as I see areas each time that could be better or see other things I would like to try.

Church-north-of-Paris

Church-north-of-Paris
Originally uploaded by Spencer Mackay

Homework for Joe Cibere's class.  Had a couple of hours Saturday and cranked out 3 quick paintings.

Hidden-valley-2

Hidden-valley-2
Originally uploaded by Spencer MackayThis was the re-interpretation of the scene. I took the time to adjust tha values to create a greater sense of distance and a more interesting composition. Interesting as a comparison and a chance to have a second go at the scene.

Hidden-valley-1

Hidden-valley-1
Originally uploaded by Spencer MackayThis is the version of the painting done a couple of years ago plein air.  I thought it was rather unsuccessful at the time and a bit muddy.

valley-exercise

valley-exercise
Originally uploaded by Spencer Mackay

In class study piece using wet in wet techniques. Used Joey Zbukvic painting as inspiration and starting point.

Mary-River-Falls,-Glacier

Mary-River-Falls,-Glacier
Originally uploaded by Spencer Mackay

homework piece from my WC class.

Ojai-Vally-Inn-Wallace-Neff

Ojai-Vally-Inn-Wallace-Neff
Originally uploaded by Spencer Mackay

Plein Air water color sketch done in the late afternoon of a detail of the older part of the Inn, designed by architect Wallace Neff. The light was coming in at a low angle and I was trying to capture that and the wonderful warm reflections in the shadow side of the stairway.

Done in my Moleskine sketchbook in ink line , then watercolor tones added. Took about 45 minutes on site.

Family-Pool-Ojai-Valley-Inn,-Ojai,-California

Family-Pool-Ojai-Valley-Inn,-Ojai,-California
Originally uploaded by Spencer Mackay

Family pool area of Ojai Valley In and Spa, Ojai, California. Done plein air in my Moleskine sketchbook while laying by the pool under one of the umbrellas. Ink line and watercolor.

Cactus-flower

Cactus-flower
Originally uploaded by Spencer Mackay

I was inspired by the booms on the cactus in my daughter's front yard during a recent trip to El Paso, Texas. Didn't have time to paint it then, but I've been harboring the urge ever since returning.


It was a quick one hour painting in watercolor.

sokashack1

sokashack1
Originally uploaded by Spencer Mackay

An old one while I am getting ready to load some new sketches onto my photostream. I found out that Soka sold the land back to the Santa Monica Montains conservancy, so I guess I should call it King Gillette Ranch instead. The shed is on the 660 acre ranch built by the promotor of the original disposable razor in the 1920's.

Rocks-and-hills-Charmlee

Rocks-and-hills-Charmlee
Originally uploaded by Spencer Mackay

This is an older waterclor sketch, but it reminds me of what the hills look like around here this time of year, so I am posting it anyway. Ah, Spring!

Lang Ranch woods

Lang Ranch woods
Originally uploaded by Spencer Mackay

I have started using Flickr more to post my work, but there is also the capacity to post onto my blog from my Flickr Photostream. Just trying that out. Had great fun painting this Tuesday afternoon.  Watercolor on Arches 140 lb. block.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Lang Ranch woods

My head drawing class was cancelled again and I had some afternoon time Tuesday to do something, so I decided to drive to a spot about 2 miles from my house to do some sketch painting.  There is a Chumash Indian museum in an area called Lang Ranch.  Back in the day, we used to go camping here with the Boy Scouts, but now there is a nice museum on the land and a park.

I set up a folding chair under the oaks and found a spot where the sunlight broke through the tree canopy.  There was an interesting tree with a dry creek behind and I decided to paint that.

Watercolor on Fabriano 140lb block.  Took about an hour.  Beautiful and restful, a great use of an hour.

Steam Locomotive Travel Town, Griffith Park, LA

Sketched this locomotive Friday in Travel Town, part of Griffith Park.  I met my son Craig on our lunch and we only had a half hour to sketch after we ate our chicken tacos.  I got the ink sketch down but had to add the water color at home.  I think next time I'll try something more close up.  There are lot's of interesting shapes and castings on the trains.

Himeji Castle

I had a chance on Saturday to visit Himeji Castle while on business in Japan. Himeji is about 20 minutes south of Kobe by bullet train. They've started a multi-year resoration project on the castle, but fortunately the scaffolds are only over on the end of the West Bailey at this point, so the beautiful Keep is still a great subject for photos and sketching.

I sat by the main gate on a retaining wall and did this sketch in my Moleskine sketchbook. It was really cold and I was wearing a knit hat and had my scarf wrapped around my neck and face.

A number of Japanese tourists were curious and came by to look over my shoulder. One little lady smiled and clapped her hands together as she bowed. It was very cute. She only spoke Japanese and left me a little note that I couldn't read, but had translated later. It was a recommendation on another castle she thought I might like.

Upper Treasure Lake cliff

During this week off, I've been wanting to try another Pastel piece. I did not do this one outside, but did it from a photo from our backpack trip this summer. I'm posting it anyway as an example of experimentation in media. Actual size is 13x20 on gray Canson paper.