"Santa Barbara Sunset"

This beautiful sunset is so typical for Santa Barbara.

We are planning a visit to a faraway friend, and want to give something that would represent our lifestyle. I went to my large file of reference images and selected this for a small 8 x 10 inch painting to carry with us.

I used the same scene, but with figures, for an earlier larger painting "Sunset Stroll." This painting is cropped closer in, has more detail, no figures, and has slighty different color rendering.

Another Critique

Tuesday morning is the meeting day of my critique group. This week I took in the landscape painting I am developing for next month's Heal the Ocean Show at Gallery 113. I have painted a silluette of a couple walking along the darkened shoreline of a bay, with the sun setting in a cloudy sky.

They did not say much about the painting itself, but did not like the dark blue sky I had put at the upper edge of the painting. The wanted the orange of the sunset to bleed off the upper edge.

I have since painted out the blue sky and I must say it looks better. I will keep working on the painting for a few more days.