This watercolor depicts a grove of oaks in Chesebro Canyon near my home.  There is something wonderful about the shady areas under the tree canopy on a hot summer day.  The canyon is good deer habitat and it is not unusual to see a few when hiking the trails.  Done on 140 lb Arches cold press, about 14 x 22.

I did the watercolor based on a shrine I visited in Kyoto, Japan a few years ago.  Done on 140 lb Arches cold press.  14 x 22.

Leo-Carillo-Beach

Leo-Carillo-Beach, a photo by Spencer Mackay on Flickr.

Done a while back on an October trip to Leo Carillo Beach near Malibu. Done plein air in Moleskine wc sketchbook.

Hobble Creek Barn

Hobble Creek Barn, a photo by Spencer Mackay on Flickr.

Watercolor sketch done on recent trip to Hobble Creek Utah. Done plein air in Moleskine sketchbook.

Oak Path

Oak Path, a photo by Spencer Mackay on Flickr.

Lone oak tree in Chesebro Canyon Park about a half mile from my home in Agoura Hills. Lucky to have such a magical place so close. Makes it easy to secape civilization on a moment's notice.

20 x 28 on 140 lb Arches WC paper.

Shadow Oak

Shadow Oak, a photo by Spencer Mackay on Flickr.

20 x 28 wc painting of oak tree near my friend Taylor Driggs' house in Oak Park, CA.

East Lake, Hoover Wilderness, Sierra Nevada, California

Had a great time backpacking with two of my sons last week in the Hoover Wilderness on the East slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains.  The area is Northeast of Yosemite National Park near Bridgeport.  On Friday, we hiked from our camp at Green Lake to East Lake.  I brought along my watercolor stuff and this was done plein air from a rock on the shore of the lake looking North.  Arches paper about 8x10 in size.

Hanging-valley-Zions

Hanging-valley-Zions, a photo by Spencer Mackay on Flickr.

This was a quick plein air water color sketch in my Moleskine. Zions is a wonderful park, so full of amazing scenes! Corwded on memorail Day though...:-(

Narrows-repaint

Narrows-repaint, a photo by Spencer Mackay on Flickr.

Tried a repaint of the plein air piece. Stronger values, but I liked the colors in the first one better.

Narrows-plein-air

Narrows-plein-air, a photo by Spencer Mackay on Flickr.

Painted this last Sunday plein air in Zion's National Park

Taylor's-Oak-After

Taylor's-Oak-After, a photo by Spencer Mackay on Flickr.

Watercolor of a valley oak near my home. I reworked the foreground with pastel and saved an otherwise unremarkable painting.

Taylor-Drigg's-Oak-before

Taylor-Drigg's-Oak-before, a photo by Spencer Mackay on Flickr.

water color of a vallley oak near my home before I fixed it with soft pastel.

Hannah's-landscape

Hannah's-landscape, a photo by Spencer Mackay on Flickr.

My 11 year old granddaughter painted this with only minimal coaching!

Paramount-Ranch-Road

Paramount-Ranch-Road, a photo by Spencer Mackay on Flickr.

I reworked a plein air water color sketch I did a few months ago at Paramount Ranch. It was pretty dead, so I hit it with some pastels and in my opinion it was an improvement. I wish I thought to take a picture before I started, so youi could see the difference.

Washingtonia-palm

Washingtonia-palm, a photo by Spencer Mackay on Flickr.

This is a pastel sketch I did today of a neighbor's tree.

M DESIGN on Industrial Design

M DESIGN on Industrial Design

This is an interview I did about a year ago for Grumbacher/Chart tape.  They were talking to people with art related careers and thought what we do might be interesting to the readers of Thalo, their web-based magazine.

Beetle

beetle, a photo by Spencer Mackay on Flickr.

Another water color sketch done this morning while painting with my granddaughter Emma.

wolf

wolf, a photo by Spencer Mackay on Flickr.

Water color sketch I did while painting with my granddaughter Emma on our "date" this morning.

Paramount-Ranch-Dead-Tree

Paramount-Ranch-Dead-Tree, a photo by Spencer Mackay on Flickr.

Dead tree at Paramount Ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains near Malibu, California. Painted plein air on 140 lb WC paper. Last session of my class. I will miss Joe Cibere's great inspiration and instrution. I might try a figure or head painting class next. Wonderful day and beautiful weather.