Canadian Rockies

Kevin Turcotte

5 x 5 inches

watercolor on hot press paper

Happy Holidays to all! This also happens to be the 300th post on this blog -- a milestone!

Anacapa cliffs

Kevin Turcotte

8 x 10

oil on linen

In the book "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman the "Cliffs of Insanity" feature in a crucial scene -- this side of Anacapa Island seems like a similar place.

Down by the River

10 x 8
James Martin
Another from the Serrano workshop

Carp crab

Kevin Turcotte

8 x 10 inches

oil on linen mounted on panel

we found this little guy on the beach and I was impressed with the iridescent colors on his shell.

Afternoon on the River

Kevin Turcotte

8 x 10 inches

oil on canvas panel

This was done a month ago in a workshop with artist Frank Serrano, sponsored by the training department at DreamWorks. Though it was pretty late in the season it was still plenty hot -- temperatures in the high 90s. By the time I finished this one I was pretty beat.

More drawings

Kevin Turcotte

18 x 24

conte crayon on newsprint

more drawings from recent figure sessions.

Arrangement in Grey

Kevin Turcotte

12 3/4 x 16 1/2

acrylic on illustration board

Studio Redo

The painting on the top is a plein air painting I did while vacationing in McCall, ID this summer. It has bugged me since I painted it for a lot of reasons. So while in the studio tonight I decided to redo the painting and am pretty happy with the result, especially compared to the stinker from Saturday night. 6x8 Oil on board
Also this is a shot of my studio space in case you were wondering.

Effort vs Result

After not painting for what seems like a very long time I painted late Saturday night (12-1am) and banged out this hideous still life. Why am I posting you may ask is that I had a blast doing it even if the result didn't match my energy level. It got me jump started painting again. Thanks to Kevin who committed me to paint at least once a week again.

Cozumel fish

Kevin Turcotte

22 x 24.5

watercolor on cold press paper

From an underwater picture I took while snorkeling off the island of Cozumel in the Caribbean. Lots of great fish right off the shore.

Toward the launchpads

Kevin Turcotte

16 x 24 inches

oil on panel

painted on location at Cape Canaveral Florida. At one point an eight foot alligator hoisted himself out onto the road we were standing on. He didn't bother us and we left him alone too.

Bluegills

Kevin Turcotte

21 x 29

watercolor on cold press paper

I had to make a presentation of personal artwork recently so I was digging through some older work -- this one was exhibited in the California State Fair in Sacramento a few years back. Quite a few years actually.

Malibu Creek Hill

Kevin Turcotte

9 x 12

linen on panel

Malibu Creek State Park is where the television show M.A.S.H. was shot, as well as numerous movies, including Planet of the Apes (Charlton Heston version). I did not see any "filthy apes" while I was there though -- just hills.

Yellow Kayak

Kevin Turcotte

22 x 28 inches

oil on canvas

View from Mount Lowe

Kevin Turcotte

12 x 6 inches

oil on panel

unfortunately this view is now most likely a charred mess of blackened trees -- part of the area burned by the "Station Fire" that destroyed a good chunk of the Angeles National Forest. This is near Mount Wilson, which survived the fire.

Behind the Spot

Kevin Turcotte

6 x 8 inches

oil on linen mounted on panel

the sun burning through the fog behind the best little burger joint in Carpinteria.

Grandview and San Fernando

Kevin Turcotte

24 x 12 inches

oil on panel

this is right down the street from where I work and after driving past it a thousand times I thought it might make a nice painting. I spent a few hours on a Sunday working on this, getting dust blown into me from passing trains. A few days after I painted this the city came along and trimmed all the extra fronds off the trees, ruining the effect I liked so much about them.

Boxer

Kevin Turcotte

14 x 17

graphite on paper

Redhead

Kevin Turcotte

16 x 20 inches

oil on gessoed panel

Troll Bridge

Kevin Turcotte

6 x 8 inches

oil on panel

this is what passes for a river in Los Angeles -- I'm really not sure what the yellow concrete cylinders are used for -- perhaps seats for the trolls?

Carpinteria Beach at Sunset

Kevin Turcotte

4 x 4 inches

watercolor on hot press paper

Fire Dancer

Kevin Turcotte

6 x 8 inches

oil on panel

another quick one from our hour long painting sessions.

Dark Water

Kevin Turcotte

6 x 8 inches

oil on gessoed illustration board

Cal Tech

Kevin Turcotte

8,25 x 10.5 inches

ink wash in sketchbook

I went sketching the other day with my son Jackson, who is putting pieces together for an art portfolio. The Cal Tech campus in Pasadena is a great place to sketch -- this is what I came up with.

Standing Man

Kevin Turcotte

6 x 12 inches

oil on gessoed panel

our  little  group of painters now gets the last hour of a figure drawing session for one long pose. This was what I came up with last week.

Chester

Kevin Turcotte

6 x 8 inches

oil on gessoed illustration board

that's smoke from a wood mill in the little town of Chester  in Northern California. Nice place, some great painting spots nearby.

One hour of painting

Kevin Turcotte

6 x 8 inches

oil on panel

this is about what one hour of figure painting buys you  these days...not quite the three  hour study,  but better than nothing.

Passing clouds

Kevin Turcotte

6 x 8 inches

oil on panel

painted while I was working as a background painter at the Disney animation studio in Florida. It's a road stretching off toward the town of Claremont and I have a sinking feeling that this particular scene is covered over with subdivisions now.

figure drawings

Kevin Turcotte

18 x 24 (cropped)

conte crayon on newsprint

figure drawing is something every artist has to keep up with -- I should draw more often and try to -- these are from a recent session at the studio.

Trumpets

Kevin Turcotte

4 x 4

watercolor on hot press paper

Back

Kevin Turcotte

6 x 8 inches

oil on panel

susie

Kevin Turcotte

8 x 10 inches

oil on canvas panel

our weekly painting session has moved several rooms in the past year, presenting new lighting challenges with each location. Here we tried for a more naturalistic approach. This was about an hour and a half of painting.

Padaro Beach

Kevin Turcotte

6 x 8 inches

oil on panel

the white structure at the end of this beach is a fantasy version of a beach  house out of the Arabian Nights -- very mysterious.  It's right off the 101 freeway as you're headed south from Santa Barbara.

Down for repairs

Kevin Turcotte

9 x 12

oil  on linen

Santa Paula airport -- this bird won't be flying soon...

Tree and bridge

Kevin Turcotte

6 x 8 inches

This one was from a painting outing with James  Martin (from Paintopolis and jamesmartinstudio.blogspot.com) off the 126 highway near the Ventura and Los Angeles County border.

Acrylic

Kevin Turcotte

8 x 10 (approx.)

acrylic on illustration board

another quicker painting -- back when I was regularly painting the figure in acrylic.

City of Angels (2)

Kevin Turcotte

5 x 8 (approx.)

ink wash in sketchbook

another drawing from the old Spanish-American War cemetery in downtown Los Angeles, a place that truly is a city of angels...

Amarylis

Kevin Turcotte

4 x 4

watercolor on hot press paper

...this little bulb has been hanging around our house since Christmas and it's still going strong.

Lone Tree

Kevin Turcotte

6 x 8

oil on cardboard

done back when I was heavy into experimenting with surface quality -- mixed tiny glass balls into matte  medium to give a very toothy surface.

Back

Kevin Turcotte

8 x 10

oil on panel

our painting sessions are back for a little while but we now only have two hours to accomplish what we used to in three...

Sara

Kevin Turcotte

6 x 12

oil on canvas, mounted on panel

from a while ago...