There's a slow drizzle of rain going on outside at the moment so it's a fine Sunday afternoon inside catching up on laundry and the like. The weather forecasters here in San Diego are rumored to have the easiest job on earth: sunny and 65 degrees... all the time. But I don't agree. I think it's very difficult to predict the weather due to air masses coming at us from the Pacific north west or the Gulf of Mexico not to mention the southern Pacific ocean.
The easiest way to know what the weather is going to be is to simply look out your window. But then again, take this morning. At 8AM it was sunny and we could see a bright blue ocean and a sky that hosted just a few clouds. Now just before noon, what do we have? Rain!
See, a landscape painter's life revolves around the weather. The weather conditions determine your day to a great extent. Is it nice and sunny? OK, then I'm going out to paint. Is it raining? OK, then I'm for sure working in the studio!
This landscape painter has been working quite a bit in the studio of recent days as I figure out the ocean and all of her moods and faces. From morning to night, from sunny to rainy, it's all different at the ocean. I swear the Pacific changes her mood about every 15 minutes or so!
In preparation for studio painting I spend hours staring at the ocean, the waves, and the sky, making sketches or taking notes, and backing it all up with photos of what I observe. It's a wonderfully entertaining and challenging adventure... and far from over:)
Here's my latest painting fresh from the easel, and as you can see this composition is fast becoming one of my faves: the angular look down the beach with breaking waves. If I paint it a hundred thousand times, each painting will be different... as is the ocean every 15 minutes;)
"Pacific Beach Afternoon", 12 by 24 inches, oil on canvas.
UPDATE: 4PM: The sun is out and it's a perfectly sunny post-storm afternoon! The water is a 1000 shades of green from lightest and most delicate teal to deepest emerald. Can't wait to paint that!!