Rat Rock Cove

Oil on canvas panel, plein air, 9" by 12". Painted yesterday with my Saturday painting group at China Camp State Park. Lots of beautiful clouds with some thundercaps and even a little lightening, but almost no rain later in the afternoon and no rain from a promised storm last night. Need the rain!!!

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Comment by Ningning Li on March 6, 2015 at 17:04: Stuart, you are so kind!! Thank you so much. In the hospital, there must be more wose people than I. Lol... I agree with you, many people now even can not write well or count numbers manually.

Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on March 6, 2015 at 15:35: Thanks Li and don't worry about it at all. Ann is picking up some of that from Michael, plus she is teaching art classes and needs to sound very academic. Since most "telephone poles" really are "utility" poles with power lines and not just telephone lines, I thought that might be your confusion. I don't know how you stay fluent in at least 3 languages (plus probably some Chinese dialects) and keep up with all the art jargon as well! Although I have studied four foreign languages (latin, German, French and Italian), I am fluent in none of them, but can get by when I travel pretty well. Not many people in the US study foreign languages in school anymore; too bad!!!

Comment by Ningning Li on March 6, 2015 at 12:30: Stuart, you are so petiant to me, many thanks. In fact, I saw those 2 poles already. But as you and Ann always have some very acadamic conversation, when I read the comments my small brain started to run too quickly. I saw the"poles" but thought of "holes". convencing myself that it was a jargon of art , a code password between you and Ann. Messy Li!!! Lol. I fell better now. Thanks again, Stuart.

Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on March 6, 2015 at 3:40: Li, there are actually two utility or "telephone" poles in the upper left of the painting, one taller than the other and rising above the hills, between the two trees where there is a road (you can't see the road). They are acting as a pointer into the clouds by catching your eye because of the value contrast. Thanks for liking and commenting on my painting.

Comment by Ningning Li on March 6, 2015 at 2:48: Stuart, I love the comment from Ann,so thoughtful, she knows. Ann, one question, what do you mean"the little telephone pole" ? Where is it? I can not see it. between the clouds? Stuart, do you know ?

Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on March 5, 2015 at 20:56: Thank you very much Ann. I'm glad that my interpretation of what I saw that day actually worked to direct the movement of your eyes through the painting in the fashion you describe, because that was my intent. Always nice to accomplish a mission!!!

Comment by Ann Turner on March 5, 2015 at 18:10: Lots of learning here on this site ! Your value planning is very good and adds depth to your painting. I like the little telephone pole that is a small but needed vertical to take us up in the sky to those great purplie clouds. The large tree is a scene stealer because it is very interesting and the high contrast between the dark foliage and sky holes.It also takes us up to the sky.

Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on March 4, 2015 at 3:47: Thanks Lori. I always love getting comments back that show that another artist has really looked at my work with a critical eye. They so frequently see things that I have missed completely, and their observations are of inestimable benefit to me toward improving my work. Plein air painting is most challenging, not just from the vagaries of the weather and outdoor critters, but because if one stays true to the process of finishing the work in one sitting, there is no going back to fix mistakes in the studio. The biggest drawback to painting outdoors enough that you start to really see your work improving is that it has a very powerful addictive component. I find that when I go out and really nail a painting that I just can't stand sitting in my studio and painting and just want to get outside to paint as soon as possible. When the weather is as good as we have it here in California most of the time and with the closeness of so many beautiful vistas, that's a real setup for creation of plein air "junkies"!!! Analyze tha one!! Thanks for tolerating my bizarre sense of humor; I'm sure you are probably a good swimmer and not afraid of the water. Stu

Comment by Lori Ippolito on March 4, 2015 at 3:23: Chuckling...thanks for explaining your process Stu!!!

Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on March 4, 2015 at 3:19: Thank you Li. Yes those light shapes on the rocky point really are cloned to some extent, but with the reflections there is some variety. What I saw in them was the diagonal pattern created by the light and I tried to capture that with the large value difference between light and shadow. A little more massing of the shapes by connecting the lights might be very helpful, and I will keep that in mind next painting. Thank you for noticing my crazy sese of humor!!!