St. Emydius Catholic School

A few years ago, my wife got me a Ted Crane print of Humboldt State University as a gift.  Thinking I would do the same for her, I asked her if she wanted one from Cal State Fullerton where she graduated, or one from the several other colleges she attended.  She said her favorite school was St. Emydius which she attended in Lynwood, California for 1st grade thru 8th grade.   This is where she met her life-long friends, Rosalie and Barbara.  I didn't think Ted Crane had done a print of St. Emydius, so one Sunday morning, I made up a story about going somewhere and drove up to Lynwood to take some photos of the school.  I figured I'd try to do something for my wife, but if it didn't turn out, I could frame one of the photos.  The school and church are both still very nice--I can see why this was my wife's favorite school.  Anyway, I did a watercolor of the front of the school and my wife loves it.  It is on the wall next to my print of Humboldt State.

Indian Pueblo

This watercolor was interesting to do, but didn't quite capture the feeling that I had hoped for.  However, I like the way the colors work together.  My wife's good friend Kathy liked the painting, so she gave it to her.  I told Kathy that if people asked her where she got it, she was to say that she got it from her good friend who was, "sleeping with the artist."  It sounds very salacious, but it is just my wife sleeping with me, her husband.  It does make the picture seem more interesting though!

Blanket and Baskets

Following my interest in Native American Indians, I built a primitive loom and wove the blanket seen here.  It was difficult getting the simple red stripe lines in it.  I have no idea how the Indians wove the intricate and interesting patterns and designs into their blankets.   I took a one-day extension class through University of California, Riverside on Indian Basket Weaving.  I made the small basket on the lower right in that class.  It is a two-sided (inside and outside) loop basket.  We dipped the strands in water to make them pliable--thus fulfilling my Father's teasing about the classes I took in college.   I was actually doing "underwater basket weaving".  The basket on the top left is a rope-coil basket that my cousin, Judy Marquez, who is a high school art teacher, explained how to do.   She is a great teacher because I think it came out pretty good.  It is so tightly woven that it might hold water, but I have never tried it.

Madonna Shrine

I tried to loosen up my style with this watercolor.  I used a very wet paper and made the foreground a little abstract

Major Powell's 1873 Expedition through the Canyons of the Colorado River

You have to look closely for the boats on the river in the lower left corner of the picture (click on picture to enlarge).  That gives you some idea of the scale of the canyons.  Interesting note:  I did this watercolor from a watercolor by an artist who was actually on the expedition, documenting what they saw.  I wondered how the artist caught up with the rest of the party as he painted them floating away from him.  Maybe they had a third boat.

Humboldt Coast

I love the northern California coastline.  This was an attempt to capture some of its beauty.  You really need to see it in person to fully appreciate it.

Afternoon Lake Fog

This one looked like the photo I used to paint it, but I am not happy with the water.  Water is very difficult to paint or draw--at least for me it is.

Colt Revolver

I did this sketch for a friend who I've gone hunting with a number of times.  He is very knowledgeable about all kinds of firearms as well as football.  His wife is Bridget, who does the Nickel & Dime Ranch blog.  The difficult part of this sketch was the lettering on the barrel of the gun.  I had to really plan to get it to come out the way I wanted it.

Sitting Bull

Again, a project inspired by my interest in American Indians.  For me, the toughest part were the feathers.

Willie Nelson - "Red Headed Stranger"

I listen to a lot of Willie Nelson music.  This was a spur of the moment project combining pen & ink and watercolors.

Miami Dolphins Football Player - Larry Czonka

Larry Czonka was one of my favorite players.  I tried to capture his strength and "right at you" style of running the football.  I was never very happy with the way his right leg turned out in this sketch, but that is the way it looked in the photo that I used to draw it.

Cozy Cottage

In my opinion, there is no greater group of artists than those at Disney Studios.  In this watercolor, I tried to capture some of that "Disney-ish" style.  I don't think I got it, but I like the picture anyway.

Rams Football Player

This is an early pen & ink sketch I did of Lance Rentzel.  As a kid, I was a big Los Angeles Rams fan.  I was very disappointed when they moved to St. Louis.

Moss Point, Laguna Beach, California

If you turn off of Pacific Coast Highway in Laguna Beach onto Moss Street, you can park and walk down some stairs to Moss Cove.  It is a beautiful little place to visit.

UCLA Football Player - Matt Stevens

Matt Stevens played quarterback for me when I was the Head Sophomore Coach at Fountain Valley H. S.  He was a star player on the varsity at FVHS,  then went on to be the starting quarterback at UCLA and took them to the 1986 Rose Bowl against the University of Iowa.  I gave the original to him as a gift.

Petroglyph of a Ram

This is a petroglyph I did of a ram.  I'm not sure of what kind of rock I used but it dulled the center-punch I used to make it.  Indians must have had a lot of time on their hands because it took me a long time to make it.

Totem Pole

I have always been interested in Native American Indians.  I wanted to make a totem pole so I found an 8' tall, 10" in diameter piece of Lodgepole Pine from the Bitterroot Mountains in Idaho.  It weighs 100.5 lbs.  The top figure is an eagle holding a fish.  The second is a wolf (notice the sharp teeth).  The third is a man.  The fourth is a beaver (notice the big teeth).  The fifth is a warrior.  The bottom is an Orka (killer whale).  It is all hand-carved, painted, and sealed with marine varnish.