Tustin, Ca. PLEIN AIR PAINT OUT 2008

This past few days I have been traveling back and forth to Tustin, Ca. for their 2008 Paint Out. Twenty two artist from around southern Ca. started painting on Wed. and were able to show their efforts at a show and sale on Main St. in downtown Tustin. On Thursday Luz Perez and I went down for our first day of painting. We arrived around 9 a.m. in the morning and checked in at the Parks and Recreation Department. We drove around the area marked Old Town and looked for differently possibilities to paint. I really like painting vista's so I was drawn to the mountains in the distance and was trying to situate myself in an area that I could include them. My first painting was a downtown scened of Main Street, just off of El Camino Real looking east towards the mountains. I really liked the red building that was situated on the right side and worked around that as my focal point for the painting. I don't usually work around a focal point, unless there is a definite one in mind. The cars also draw attention to the red building.

After painting in the morning we decided to rest and go have lunch before painting an afternoon painting. Because of the traffic down the 91 freeway we knew we would not be able to start back home until after 6:30, so we still had plenty of time. At the restaurant we ran into another PAAR member Helen Bell. We had already finished our lunch and special drinks for the occasion, so asked Helen to join us for coffee after we painted our afternoon painting. The Steven's House is a local historical house in downtown Tustin. The house used to be surrounded by Orange groves in it's early years but now it is surrounded by office buildings. I was happy to paint this house as I am always drawn to Victorian houses. I can now add this painting to the series of Victorian Houses I already have painted for future shows. The sun was peaking through the large trees on the right of the house just enough to light up the roof top and the front windows on the Turret. After painting we had our coffee with Helen and we all started back home around 7 p.m. Boy what a tiring day, but I was very happy with my Steven's House so felt comfortable that I would have something nice to turn in for the exhibit on Saturday.

Friday morning we left a little earlier so we could capture the early morning sun. My choice today was the Vintage Lady boutique on El Camino Real, just off of Main St. This tiny little boutique was nestled in behind this large tree. Another point of interest to me was the tower on the church. We were only allowed to paint 3 paintings during the paint out, so since I could see the tower on the upper right, I decided I could combine 2 paintings of sites I liked into one.

I was really torn between this painting and the Victorian house as to which one I should turn in for the exhibit. Eddie really liked the Victorian House so I went with his choice. Since the judges were not pre- announced I really couldn't say which one they would like. After lunch on Friday we finished up some last minute details on a couple of paintings, waited for the traffic to die down and came on home.

On Sat. the artist were allowed to set up their paintings and artwork in Old Town. Since I had never been to this event, I was reluctant to do this. But after saying that and being there I would definitely give it a try. We were, however, able to set up our paintings we did from the week.

Brighton Smith a young man (just a senior in High School) won the $1000.00 prize for his painting. What a delightful young man he is and a terrific artist. He has a very bright future ahead of him and I was very happy to meet him. The photo is with him and his mom. What an exciting day for him and all who were there to see him win. Congratulations Brighton!

This was a very nice event. Tustin's first paint out. I definitely will be going back to this great little town. Here is a link to read more about Tustin. City of Tustin, CA :: Homepage I highly recommend taking the tour of this little town. Nice people and beautiful places to paint. And to the ladies at Oscar's Bar & Grill, you make great Lemon Drop Martini's!

Until next time, Enjoy the ART! Terry d. Chacon

PS: I will be adding some of my Christmas note cards (all breeds), Christmas Giclee's and some other Afghan Hound items to my Ebay store this week. Be sure to take a look. Here is a link to my Ebay Store: eBay Store

Christmas is just around the corner, custom orders are still available until the end of Oct. Pet portraits make the best gifts, email me with your interests.

If you would like to purchase one of the paintings on my blog, giclee's of the paintings or notecards, please let me know. shacone@aol.com.