Saddleback Mountain, California

     This is a watercolor painting of Saddleback Mountain on the border between Orange and Riverside Counties in Southern California.  As a model, I used a William Wendt painting, "A Clear Day."  Saddleback Mountain is formed by the two highest peaks in the Santa Ana Mountains, Santiago Peak (5,689') and Modjeska Peak (5,496').  Click on photo for larger view.     

         In Marcy and Maurice Bandy's book, Saddleback Ancestors the authors write...

        "Old Saddleback, the name given to the twin peaks of Santiago and Modjeska, has stood as guardian, landmark, and provider for Orange County since California was thrust from the Pacific millions of years ago.  She is surely the mother of the adjoining valleys and canyons.  Her crumbling rocks transported grain by grain down the stream beds by the gentle rains and infrequent snows, gradually built the fertile plain beneath her slopes.

       "Here, after countless suns and moons rose behind her peaks, the first Indians arrived and established camps on the tableland to the west.  Birds and small game were abundant, the seas was full of food, seeds and plants were plentiful.  With a moderate climate, the Indians found life in the shadow of Saddleback bountifully simple."

Adios Pablo

This is a tribute to Paul, a good friend and fellow coach who past away in 2017.  For a model, I used the opening scene of the movie, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.  At the 1:10 mark, they open an old book and a similar picture is on the first page of the book.  (Paul J.  1952-2017   Rest in Peace)

Sitting Bull

This is a watercolor and gouache painting of Sitting Bull.  I was experimenting with the gouache paint which I think is more intense than regular watercolor paint.  Sitting Bull was a Lakota Medicine Man.  He had a vision of what many interpret to have been the defeat of Custer at the Little Big Horn, three weeks before the actual battle took place.  He was later killed by Indian agency police as they attempted to arrest him when it was feared that he would join the Ghost Dance movement.