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by Marc Dalessio

Carmel Plein Air Paintings

Here are some of my small sketches from this week in Carmel, California. I am participating in the Carmel Art Festival, a plein air painting contest.

I first studied landscape painting at the University of California at Santa Cruz an hour north of here, and I’ve been painting in the area for the last 25 years.

Plein air sketch of buildings below Palo Corona, Carmel

Ranch Hand Houses, Palo Corona. 25 x 35 cm, oil on panel.

I’ve always felt that growing up in California and being surrounded by the natural beauty of this state is what made me want to become a landscape painter in the first place. It’s always a pleasure coming back.

Plein air sketch of Corral de Cielo Road.

The Top of Corral de Cielo. 20 x 30 cm, oil on linen.

Plein air painting of San Benancio Road.

San Benancio Road. 25 x 35 cm, oil on linen.

Plein air sketch of Point Sur.

Point Sur. 20 x 30 cm, oil on linen.

Plein air painting of the Pastures of Heaven off Corral de Tierra Road.

The Pastures of Heaven. 25 x 35 cm, oil on linen.

Plein air painting of cliffs at Point Lobos.

Approaching Fog, Point Lobos. 55 x 70 cm, oil on linen.

Plein air painting of cliffs at Point Lobos.

Point Lobos Cliffs. 35 x 25 cm, oil on linen.

Plein air sketch of the cliffs at Point Lobos.

Point Lobos Cliffs in the Sun. 25 x 35 cm, oil on linen.

Plein air sketch of California Live Oaks.

Live Oaks, Corral de Tierra. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.

Plein air sketch of Big Sur.

Big Sur Sketch, Morning. 25 x 35 cm, oil on panel.

Plein air sketch of Big Sur.

Big Sur Sketch, Afternoon. 25 x 35 cm, oil on panel.

by Marc Dalessio

Big Sur and the Failure of Sight-Size

Here a few of the sketches from Big Sur this week. Local painter Mark Farina showed me Garrapata Beach where I ended up painting a number of pieces (Garrapata means ‘tick’ in Spanish which is rather ironic since I spend most of my summers trying to avoid Lyme disease on Shelter Island).

Garrapata Cliffs. Oil on linen. 14 x 10 in.

Morning, Garrapata. Oil on linen, 10 x 14 in.

Big Sur has huge views. To get a decent composition you often need to capture about a 90 degree viewing angle, which is impossible to paint on a small panel using sight-size, even with one’s nose pressed up against it. Most sketches I do on small panels occupy about 30 to 50 degrees of my field of view (normal human filed of view is 160 to 200 degrees), and sight-size works perfectly in those instances.

Garrapata Surf. Oil on linen, 8 x 12 in.

To sight-size a 90 degree field of view would require about a 6 foot canvas to work on at a comfortable distance which, in high winds coming off the Pacific, would lead to a whole ‘nother set of logistical problems.

The following two sketches of Pfeiffer Beach, for example, completely fail to capture the grandeur of the scenery.

Pfeiffer Beach #1. Oil on linen, 10 x 14 in.

Pfeiffer Beach #2. Oil on linen, 8 x 12 in.

That last one especially would have been the guest of honor at the after-painting turps party, if it wasn’t for plan B: I’ve been doing detailed drawings at all these spots to figure out compositions and hopefully, between that, the color sketches, and reference photos, I’ll be able to make something of them in the studio.

In the meantime, I’m back to focusing on smaller views.

Monastery Beach. Oil on linen, 10 x 14 in.

Point Lobos Sketch. Oil on linen, 10 x 14 in.

I’m using very the very nice (and expensive) Classens-mounted-on-dibond panels from New Traditions, and a mix of M Graham, Old Holland, and Williamsburg colors. I find that some colors are better than others across brands.