Rodeo Lagoon

Rodeo Lagoon 16 x 20 Acrylic Had a great day of painting over in the Marin Headlands with my friend and fellow Plein Airista Scott Byrd. First we hit up the Hawk Hill overlook. We went around the barricaded area and found a great spot. Went back to the car and got our easels, skipped around the barrier and were followed by an official looking truck with Washington plates. The guy said we can’t be up there. Scott’s reaction was “who is this?” Unmarked truck, no ID. Apparently not a ranger. He rolled up his window and I looked in. He was on his phone. Pretty weak. I had to tell Scott  this area ees verboten unfortunately. We could have asked for ID and took issue, but the fog was blowing and we could have lost visibility so we decided to hit one of my fave motifs the Rodeo Lagoon (my third painting of this spot). We got cooking and were well into it when a ranger came up and told us it was a wildlife area and we needed to be up by the road. Wow, painter’s running afowl with the new authoritarianism. Pretty lame. We came back up and finished our paintings. It was fine. We could have argued but that would steal valuable painting time. The whole vibe was a case Grand Theft Mojo. Anyhow, Scott lent me some Naples Yellow which was a great addition  and what I learned is a staple of the Nor Cal landscape outdoor pallet. Also picked up a Light Phtalo Blue which you can see in the sky and lagoon of the painting. Besides the bored authorities looking busy, it was a great day.