Malibu Coast Painting Trip

Mostly, I just wanted to share my paintings from my trip to Malibu.  I decided to go to L.A. a few days before the David Leffel workshop in April, so that I could go down by the coast and paint.  The first morning after arriving at  L.A.X. and getting my rental car.  I immediately got on the Pacific Coast Highway going north up towards the Malibu area. I only had a couple of days to paint so I decided to just focus on a specific area instead of trying to drive hours to hit every popular coastal area.  I figured I would get more out of my time, parking it in one spot and just doing as many paintings as possible.  I hope to go back one day and visit some of the other beautiful coastal areas that I have heard so much about. 

I stopped at the grocery store to get some PB & J sandwiches, water and fruit.  The only thing I wished I would have remembered was wet wipes.

Needless to say after a long winter painting in the studio, it was a rejuvenating few days of  painting by the ocean.  I was very happy with the studies that I ended up with.  I really did not care how they turned out, I was just so happy to be there doing it.  I always wind up so attached to my travel paintings (probably because I have not had many of these opportunities yet) that I never want to sell them.   I will say that I did give 2 away to friends that I met at the workshop.  When I feel that happy, alive and at peace....I just start giving stuff away!!!  Not a good way to make a living I suppose.  

All in all the experience was sublime and I kept thinking, how fortunate am I to be able to enjoy life this much!

I hope you enjoy these paintings  and better yet I wish you all as much happiness in your travels and painting experiences.

 

The above 3 are from the first 2 days of painting. I met a fellow professional artist on the very first one- ha!  The first painting I gave away, and my friend sent me a photo of the painting (it's quite a bit warmer I think from the lighting). The second one is my favorite.

 

These are from the second day.  One painting is missing as I gave it away, and sadly did not get a photo of it. I can't even remember now what it looked like. Another painting was a bust so not pictured. It was a bit cold and overcast this day. I did take some time just to meander, sit and relax, and enjoy those ocean waves without painting too.

 

This was my last day of paintings before the workshop.  All of these were done in the afternoon to early evening.  I had gone to the Getty Center that morning to see the Turner exhibit- which was fantastic by the way.  The Rembrandt's blew my mind and I loved the Titian's and Van Dyck's as well. The result was a heart full of inspiration and I could not wait to get back down to the coast to paint.  I was very glad that I was by myself for this trip.  For me, it is good to be alone in these cases and just soak it all in.  

 

Below are some actual photos of some of the scenes that I painted, along with a video of one of the spots.   I hope you enjoy! Happy Painting.