Author: RLOArtist

Ronald Lee Oliver. I am a San Diego born, lifelong self-taught artist, plein air, and studio painter who captures the vivid essence of subjects that interest me. I don't limit myself to a genre or "style" but prefer to work on an eclectic mix of subjects. Each is rendered in oil paint with varying degrees of realism or impressionism with selective vision. My paintings are done both “plein air” with a portable artists pochade style easel or on a larger easel in the studio. I consider the framing of the finished art very important to my vision of the completed work and therefore I offer much of my art pre-framed as envisioned and intended by the artist. I also make custom jewelry in 18kt gold and silver with gems and cabochons.

Posted on March 30, 2013March 1, 2014 by RLOArtist — Leave a comment

Plein air at Carlsbad Flower Fields

Do you like flowers?

I sure do and that’s why I was excited to paint at the Flower Fields in Carlsbad. They are fifty acres of ranunculus flowers that are grown for bouquets. Every spring they bloom in a riot of color and the fields are open to the public for a fee. There were lots of people there today as I painted and many of them stopped to chat, comment and ask questions about the painting.

Here is another look at the fields…

and some of the workers that cultivate and harvest the flowers…

I decided that I would attempt to represent a view from the higher elevations of the fields, which slope down hill to the nursery area and the City of Carlsbad, below. You can see the Pacific Ocean from up there so I thought it would be a nice overall impression of the fields. This next photo is close to what I wanted to put on the panel–I brought another 16 X 20. I like the size because of the freedom it brings but it also brings responsibility to fill the space, which takes more time (usually) than a smaller painting. Here’s the view…

…and here’s me, in the act of applying colored oily stuff to a piece of wood. This photo was taken by a nice fellow named, Rob who promised to email them to me and he did. They were in my mailbox before I got home! Thanks Rob!

…and finally, here is the painting as it stands (unfinished) when I decided to pack up and head home for a late lunch (pizza!). I think it has potential to be a very nice piece. I just have to work out the middle distance, which in real life had lots of jumbled retail structures. I’ll try to simplify it and still represent an impression of the scene. Let me know what you think!

When I finish it, I’ll post it up here and share it with you all. As always, you can click on the gallery link at the top of my blog and see finished works that are ready to show and are for sale.

Posted on March 24, 2013April 25, 2014 by RLOArtist — 2 Comments

Lindo Lake Update

Many times, while painting a canvas outdoors, for any of a limitless number of reasons there are parts of the scene that are either too complex, distasteful, or simply don’t mesh and balance the composition. It is the artist’s prerogative to include or exclude these items as necessary to meet the end goal of a harmonious and balanced painting. Known as “Artistic License,” this is the artists ability and authority to change the subject to fit the overall goals of the particular presentation according to their own aesthetic whim. That explains how one departs, creatively speaking, from the scene before him which has dreadful apartment dwelling architecture from the early seventies…

to a simplified and idyllic scene as shown in progress here on the easel…

to a place such as the one depicted here…

Thank goodness I don’t feel like I need to paint what I see!

Here is a video demonstration of the actual painting of this piece, on site at Lindo Lake…that’s my wife’s playing the piano in the music background–she also composed the music and arranged the recording.

P.S. Don’t be afraid to use the “like” buttons on the page. They help with getting the word out about the great painter you know 🙂

Posted on March 17, 2013March 1, 2014 by RLOArtist — 4 Comments

Evening Photos from My Yard

Posted on March 17, 2013April 25, 2014 by RLOArtist — 2 Comments

Lindo lake, Lakeside, California, USA, Plein Air Outing

Did you know that Lindo Lake is the only natural (un-dammed) fresh water, spring-fed lake in San Diego County? Currently it is “topped up” by pumping in water from nearby wells, which keeps the park nice and green and the lake full and beautiful. I remember going to the park for a picnic with family, cousins and friends in the Summer of ’71 when I was nine years old. The lake was completely dry, which was very disappointing for a nine-year-old. But it wasn’t too long before my cousin Curt (2 years older) and I found a way to have fun anyway. In those days, there was no Nintendo, Gameboy or “Angry Birds” to insidiously suck the life out of two daring young explorers who were experts at finding alternate sources of adventure and mischief. Turns out, a foot or two under the cracked mud surface of the lake bottom, there were hibernating…or I guess the correct term is estivating…arroyo toads that were enjoying the cool and moist mud down below. With sticks for improvised shovels, we dug and dug, finding several of them.

Of course, we brought the largest specimens back to the picnic area to proudly show to our Moms, who were duly unimpressed and in fact, quite the opposite. Our shoes and clothing were now encrusted with the stinky, black, goose-slime-laden, lake-bottom mud! In retrospect, I have to say that as nine and eleven-year old boys, finding those toads was more than worth the trouble we were in. I think as mad as they were about our soiled clothes, our mothers probably secretly enjoyed our boyishness and loved us all the more for it.

On Saturday, I returned to Lindo Lake with the San Diego Plein Air Painters Group and started a painting. This is a large (for plein air) 16 X 20 oil on canvas. The painting is not complete and is a work in progress. I think I’ll let this one rest and return to it later for finishing with “fresh eyes.” Sometimes it is good to leave a painting for a spell and pick it back up when it suits your fancy. I welcome any comments on this one, critical or otherwise.
Here it is as it sits on the easel, now:

Posted on March 12, 2013April 15, 2014 by RLOArtist — Leave a comment

Pelican’s Roost en Plein Air

As promised in an earlier post, here is a photo of the latest plein air painting. You can see a high-resolution photo of this painting by visiting my online gallery via the menu at the top of this page.

Posted on March 10, 2013March 1, 2014 by RLOArtist — Leave a comment

Cabrillo Tide Pools

Yesterday, I returned to Cabrillo National Monument Park, which is at the tip of the Point Loma peninsula in San Diego. On the coastal side of the park, they have paths down to the tide pools, which are great place to set up an easel and paint. I entered the park at 9:01am, just a minute after the gate opened and drove down to the second parking lot. As I hiked down to the water’s edge, I had to stop to snap a few photos of the birds–Pelicans!

There were lots of them. I think they were flying back home after a feeding foray because this is where they were all roosting. Pretty amazing, huh? I think the dark birds on the left are cormorants and the lighter colored and larger birds on the right are Pelicans…or maybe the smaller birds are juvenile pelicans. I’m not enough of a “birder” to know the answer on that one. You can tell this is a favorite spot 🙂

It was windy and cold but after driving all that way to paint, I wasn’t going to quit. Here is a shot of the easel and painting in progress at the waters edge. You can see the birds in the background.

You can see in the photos the water is really disturbed because of the high tide. It was mostly just a lot of white foam from the crashing waves. Because that would be too much white for my painting, I took artistic license and depicted a calmer ocean. I’m putting the finishing touches on and will post the completed painting later.

All in all it was a great day for painting!

Posted on March 8, 2013March 1, 2014 by RLOArtist — 1 Comment

D.T. Fleming Beach, Kapalua Plein Air Outing

North to Honolua

In my earlier post, Hawaii Whirlwind Tour, I neglected to post the image of the painting I did on the first morning. It was really windy on the beach at that time and I caught the easel three times as it was about to fall over. After that, I just kept my left hand on it as I painted. It was early and very cloudy, up in the West Maui Mountains off to my right but every once in a while there would be a gap in the clouds and the sunrise light would shine through and light up the face of the waves. It was a sudden color explosion that was absolutely amazing. A big black carpenter bee came down and investigated my canvas thoroughly a couple of times but didn’t bother me after that. I guess he approved. I hope you do too.

Posted on March 6, 2013March 1, 2014 by RLOArtist — 2 Comments

Presidio Park Plein Air Paintout

Got out to Presidio Park, near Old Town San Diego, on Saturday with the painters group. Took me a while to find a spot with the right view. I had completely set up in a spot on a knoll that I liked but it forced me to sit on a bed of pine needles to get the right perspective. It took about two minutes to remember I don’t like sitting while painting, so I left everything there and hiked around for fifteen minutes until I found an alternate vista. Here are some shots of the 11 X 14, oil on Ampersand gessobord panel.

"Presidio" in progress — “Presidio” in progress

…and here is the finished painting…

Posted on March 3, 2013April 15, 2014 by RLOArtist — 2 Comments

Hawaii Whirlwind Tour

Recently, Jackie (my beautiful wife) and I went to Hawaii to carry out the last wishes of Jackie’s long time friend, Brian Levi. Brian was the recording engineer who recorded Jackie’s music and she kept in touch with him over the years, eventually becoming his attorney and the executor of his estate…you see, unfortunately, Brian passed away recently after a long battle with cancer (smoking). His last wish, codified in his will, which left the entirety of his estate to Saint Jude’s Children’s Hospital, was for Jackie and I to take his remains to Maui and have a burial at sea, which we did last week on Brian’s birthday, spending three days on the Island.

The burial at sea was beautiful, with a Hawaiian ti-leaf wrapped urn for Brian, flower leis, and rose petals. When Jackie dropped in the urn and the lei, a big puff of wind came and made a circular mark on the surface of the water around the lei and swirled the rose petals, which danced across the water in the whirlwind. A huge humpback whale fully breached from the water, tail and all when Jackie mentioned Brian’s love of flying model planes in the eulogy. She said, “You loved flying, and today is a good day to fly. Happy Birthday, Brian!” and the whale leaped out of the water, on cue!

Brian loved art and was a big fan of my artwork. I am sure he would be happy to know that I took my paints to Hawaii and did a couple of paintings while I was there. In fact, I felt his presence more than once as I painted. Thanks to him, I had the opportunity.

The Maui Plein Air Painters invitational competition was just wrapping up when we arrived. I got to see some of the paintings (the ones that hadn’t sold yet) at the Village Gallery in Lahaina. There were some top-notch painters there for that week. Maybe one day, I’ll be invited. We’ll see. Hawaii is amazingly beautiful with a clear light that really makes the colors vibrant and full of life. Here are some images and shots of the paintings I did while I was there.

The first night there, the moon was full. I got a shot of it above the palms and Cook Pines of Kapalua.

My first painting was in the morning at D.T. Fleming Beach, in Kapalua, West Maui.

You can see the finished painting, here After painting, I took some photos of foliage on the way back to the hotel room.

And on the next morning, I found a place to park my pochade (small painting box for those who’ve never heard that term) and work until I got rained out. In Kapalua, in February, showers come and go with frequency. They never last too long and create some beautiful rainbows. In any case, I had to pack up the kit before I finished and had to complete this one back in San Diego. Here are some pics:

And the (almost) finished painting…there have been a few more minor touches since this photo.

I hope to go back some day, pay Brian a visit, and paint a few more things.

Aloha!

Posted on February 16, 2013March 1, 2014 by RLOArtist — 4 Comments

The Watering Hole, Plein Air Outing in Ramona, California

I returned to Ramona Grasslands Reserve this morning. I liked the outing so much last time and there is so much to see and paint there. It was a great, sunny and warm February morning in Southern California–no need for a jacket but cool enough that the insects were inactive. When the painter is comfortable and relaxed and the light is good, good things can happen. I was able to test my new lightweight pochade box and tripod, which worked great and was much easier to hike in than the full french easel with a five gallon bucket. It holds two wet 11 X 14 panels as well, so it is a great improvement. Today’s work is an 11 X 14 oil on gessoed panel. Here it is:

I also made a time-lapse video demo of the making of this painting, which you can watch here:

Posted on February 12, 2013March 1, 2014 by RLOArtist — 1 Comment

Pomegranate

I’ve always liked painting and drawing botanicals. There’s something about the perfect beauty of a flower or piece of fruit on the limb or vine that is so appealing to all the senses. I have two pomegranate trees in the yard and I love eating the kernels as a snack and juicing them to make natures’ Grenadine, which can’t be beat in a tequila cocktail, when in season. Here is a rendition I just completed of a young pomegranate fruit on the limb. This is a small painting, only 4 X 12 inches, but it makes up for the size by its eye-catching appeal.

Posted on February 7, 2013March 1, 2014 by RLOArtist — Leave a comment

Strelitzia nicolai — Finished

I finally got around to finishing the painting of the Giant Bird of Paradise plant (Latin name Strelitzia nicolai). This one is 12″ X 16″ on a deep (1.5″) gallery wrapped canvas. As all of my finished works, you can see this in one of the portfolios at ronaldlleeoliver.com

I’m also pleased to announce that one of my most recent paintings, Hacienda Carrillo, was juried into the show which is now displayed at the San Diego Art Institute in the museum of the living artist in Balboa Park.

Posted on January 13, 2013April 19, 2014 by RLOArtist — Leave a comment

Hacienda Carrillo, Plein Air Paintout in Carlsbad, California

Yesterday started with another bright and beautiful, Southern California, morning. A little chilly (34 degrees) at dawn but nothing compared to temperatures some other parts of the country are experiencing in Mid-January. Got to paint in a new locale (for me) up in the Carlsbad area of San Diego’s North County. The Leo Carrillo Ranch is a 27 acre historical park that preserves the early California adobe architecture and landscaping. It has very nice walking trails and colorful botanical gardens, as well as preserved and restored buildings from the long working history of the Rancho. It was last privately owned by Hollywood actor, Leo Carrillo, who was friends with many of the A-list stars of Hollywood’s golden era. For example, Clark Gable was a friend who often vacationed with Leo at the Ranch. Here is the brand logo and motto of the Rancho: …and here is what part of one of the trails looks like… …and a little farther down the trail… …and these guys are roaming all over the place, I must have seen thirty or forty of them… …I found a view that made a nice composition for the canvas (in this case a 12 X 12 cradled gessobord panel)… …so I set up my easel and painted it, which came out like this… I received many complements on this one by passers by and fellow artists at the park. For now, I’m calling it “Hacienda Carrillo,” but if you can come up with a more compelling name, let me know and I’ll consider it. Here is a link to this one at my online gallery:

https://ronaldleeoliver.com/blog/product/hacienda-carillo/

All in all, a great day for painting outdoors.

Posted on January 8, 2013April 15, 2014 by RLOArtist — 2 Comments

Winter Swell, Cabrillo

I got out for a plein air session last week-end. Had been sick for some time with a nasty flu that left me with a persistent nasal drip and cough. It was good to get out and the day was absolutely gorgeous. I’ve been meeting up with a painters group that uses online social media to designate places to have painting sessions. This morning, I was the first to show up (as usual), and I arrived early at the Entrance to Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma in San Diego. It was a crystal clear and chilly December morning. As I drove into the park and headed down the hill to the lower parking lots where there is access to the tide pools, a magical thing happened…

…a Peregrine falcon swooped down not more than five or ten yards in front and to the left side of my slow moving truck–and without flapping soared down the hill about three feet off the blacktop pavement…it was almost skimming the tops of the buckwheat and sage bushes at the side of the road, leading me into the park. It was so magical, I was laughing as I drove behind my escort. I followed it all the way to the bottom of the hill–nearly half a mile. What a great way to start the day.

When I parked, I got out with my easel and bucket and took some photos as I went…I’ll share them with you…

First I got out and took a photo of the view from the parking lot…

Then, I walked down the trail a ways and saw this…

and this…

and I painted this…

which came out like this…
(apologies for the phone photo)

And then I packed up, hiked back to my truck and drove out of the park but had to stop and take some shots because it was just too beautiful to resist…

looking West…

…and looking East…

A very quiet and emotional place.

What a great day it was.

Posted on December 9, 2012March 1, 2014 by RLOArtist — Leave a comment

Ramona Grasslands Meadow, Winter Plein Air in SoCal

Yesterday morning, early, I made a trip to the Ramona Grasslands Reserve, near Ramona just outside of San Diego. The grasslands are a wide open space with rolling hills, meadows, rock formations and California Live Oaks. It was early and the light was good as the fog had just cleared and the grass was dew-laden. I parked my easel in a quiet and shady spot and painted this scene on a 12 X 12 cradled birch panel.

Posted on October 29, 2012March 1, 2014 by RLOArtist — Leave a comment

Strelitzia nicolai ~ Giant Bird of Paradise

While I haven’t posted in a while, don’t worry! I am still painting. Here is my latest work in progress, which is NOT finished, so don’t be too disappointed. This is from a photo I took of this spectacular specimen, which grows in my front yard, near the dog run. I water it every morning at around sunrise. It is very dry here in Southern California and I have a watering regimen that is a daily ocurrence unless it is raining, especially for some of my more tropical plants. The painting is 12 X 15 on gallery wrap canvas, which I prepared with several coats of umber toned gesso. While in progress, it is mostly done, so the next post will (probably) be in the finished works section of the blog.

Posted on October 18, 2012March 1, 2014 by RLOArtist — 2 Comments

Beach House, La Playa, Point Loma

I finished another painting, which is waiting on a frame before it is posted in my website gallery. Here is a photo of it, unframed. This painting began as a plein air work, started on location at Kellog’s beach–also known as La Playa in Point Loma, San Diego, California, USA. I brought it home and made substantial changes in the studio. As you can tell, my back was to the water of San Diego Harbor. Eventually the tide rolled in, and I had to move my easel further inland several times before there was no more dry real estate and I had to pack up.

Posted on September 26, 2012March 1, 2014 by RLOArtist — 3 Comments

PB4Y-2 Valiant in Service

I finally had time to return to the air tanker painting. I probably should have done this on a canvas that was three or four times bigger than this one, which is 10 X 20. It made it harder than it should have been to work so tightly. I’ve had some strong positive reactions on this one. What do you think?