Disney Animation Studio

These are the old animation buildings at Disney Studios. I painted this in ink and watercolor from one of the park benches during my lunch time.

About a week later, I returned to the same spot with my iPhone loaded with painting software and did the same scene. Since I had to draw and paint with my finger, I was only able to complete the sketch while on the lot. I finished the painting at home. You can find the iPhone version, which shows an animation of the creation process here.

Back Alley Boys

I did this painting, again during my lunch time, with the sound of a 'Back Street Boys' (remember them?) playing in the background. They were in an alley behind me shooting a music video. I was working on a film in a nearby building in the east end of downtown Los Angeles.

This painting is part of my 'Hollywood Backlots' series, which began in 1977. I'm looking for a home for the paintings where the hundreds of paintings and drawings in the series will not be broken up and will be available to the public. Possibly a museum. If you know of anyone interested, please let me know. We'll work something out.

Ports-O-Call

This is Ports-O-Call, where a row of shops bordering a shipping lane sell everything from crafts to clothing to helicopter rides. It has fallen in disrepair in recent years, but used to be a very popular tourists trap in San Pedro, CA.

My friend and I have painted here several times.

This 9"x12" original watercolor painting is for sale for $350 unframed. Contact me if you are interested in purchasing it.

All Ages

I like to read the carved-in-stone inscriptions found at many historic libraries. I did this quick sketch at the Los Angeles Central Library. The library was badly burned some years ago and was closed for repairs. Inside, you can take an escalator up about three or four stories. The view at the top overlooks a cavernous foyer below with gigantic modern architecture suspended over it.

The inscription reads: In the world of affairs we live in our own age. In books, we live in all ages.

Have you read any wise sayings recently?

Bus Stop

This is a busy corner on the corner of Vermont Avenue and Manchester in South Central Los Angeles.

Pitching your easel near a bus stop is a good place to meet people. You usually have only a few minutes to spend with them, but those minutes could be a life changing experience.

I make sure I'm not blocking traffic, so I set up on the side of the bench where the bus approaches and a safe distance behind the bench. I discovered that if I set up on that side, people could keep an eye open for their bus and visit with me at the same time.

This 9"x12" original watercolor painting is for sale for $350 unframed. Contact me if you are interested in it.

Paint Me

This group of teenagers in a Brazilian quilombo (place of refuge) saw me painting and asked if I would paint their portraits; individually. I knew I wouldn't have time to do that, so I told them I would paint them as a group. As I was getting started, I learned that one of the girl's mother didn't want her hanging around the foreigner. 

However, the teens wouldn't let me go without painting them, so I did this quick painting in about 5 minutes while looking over my shoulder to see if Mama was coming.

I thought the youngsters would get mad at me when they saw this faceless painting, but they really liked it. Wow.

Finger Painting

I love to be in the company of books, so I visit libraries and bookstores often. One of my favorite libraries is the Altadena Library, which happens to be close to my home.

I did this painting on my iPhone while in the library. I’m starting to get used to drawing with my finger. I takes me way back to my childhood when I reveled in finger painting. Nevertheless, I've ordered a stylus to see if it would bring a little more accuracy to the process.

The software I used is NetSketch. It is an outstanding app, but as you would expect for a version 1 application on a mobile phone, not as feature rich as my version 9 PhotoShop on my computer. So, I opened the NetSketch version in PhotoShop and did a some blurring and desaturation there. You can see the original artwork and the creation process of this painting at here.

As a plein air artist, you should not be afraid of experimenting with new techniques and technologies. Do you have experience in creating computer-based art?