Eliot's Art Blog

This is a recap of the sixteenth day of my self-made artist residency. Days 14 and 15 were travel days as I drove back to the Bay Area.

For day 16 of my painting month, I’m back in the Bay Area and planned to paint at Black Diamond Mines Regional Park and Markham Nature Park.

Black Diamond Mines Regional Park

Black Diamond Mines, once the location of the largest coal mining operation in California, is now a park in Antioch, CA with rolling hills, copious hiking trails, a historic cemetary, and some historical ranches.

After arriving, I really struggled with what subject to focus on for painting. While there was a lot of natural beauty around, I wasn’t feeling inspired. Here are some of the options I considered before landing on my eventual choice:

Eventually, I drove back down to the ranch by the entrance and found a scene I was interested in painting:

Once I got started, the painting came together fairly quickly. While not a finished painting, I did have the chance to add some more details that I typically reserve for the studio. Here are some progress pictures:

And here is where I decided to call it done (for now):

Markham Nature Park

I had never been to Markham Nature Park in Concord, CA before. I’ll definitely be going back, but perhaps not for painting. I really struggled with my painting here and didn’t end up finishing it. I attempted to paint a picture of this creek:

Unfortunately, I was and was not able to compose a painting I liked, nor was I able to match the various browns and greens in the water. I learned that I’d like to practice painting creeks and rivers in the studio before attempting them in plein air.