Creek at Broad Street - San Luis Obispo

by David R. Darrow
6" x 6" (15.2cm x 15.2cm)
Oil on Canvas Panel

SOLD
Collection of Doris Darrow
Sunnyvale, CA – USA

About This Painting

A few weeks ago I visited San Luis Obispo, CA for the annual plein air event. I haven't been to SLO for decades, so it was nice to see what's changed and what hasn't.

The Thursday night Farmer's Market on Higuera Street downtown beats any street party I have ever seen. With evening light speckling the streets through the trees while the smoky aroma of meat on grills fills the air, vendors display produce, various wares, creams, ointments, incense, health drinks, jewelry and so on — it's a street-fair on steroids every week!

Just around the corner, Broad Street crosses a beautiful little creek, just a few feet south of the San Luis Obispo Art Center where the plein air festival has its gallery. This creek meanders through town, popping in and out of view, sometimes running under several blocks of downtown's multi-story buildings betraying its centuries-old, natural history of following the path of least resistance.

One morning I parked my easel by the creek between Chorro and Broad, and began this little painting in the warm morning sun as passers by chatted or friends gathered above the creek for morning coffee and conversation at any of several establishments with balconies or patios overlooking this serene view from their manufactured vistas.
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Covered in Light

by David R. Darrow
3-3/4" x 8" (9.5cm x 20.3cm)
Oil on Canvas Panel

SOLD
Collection of Chris Opp
Bossier City, LA – USA

About This Painting

A quick figure painting on a small, remnant canvas panel, done in a limited palette, using red, yellow, black and white.  ◙

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Pouring From A One-Gallon Metal Can

Okay, this might seem like a no-brainer: Remove cap and tip liquid out. Wipe up excess from table.

But there is a better way to pour that is non-intuitive but takes the spill out of the equation, even with gallon cans filled to the top, like my Webber's Turpenoid Natural, here, or the new Gamsol cans (each of which has a new, easy-open, pull-out plastic seal).

My dad taught me this as a kid filling the lawnmower. To get the cleanest pour, get the pour-hole diagonally as far from the target as possible, or "pour across the can" as he put it.

What this does is keep as much of the liquid away from the edge of the pour hole until you are just past the tipping point, allowing the top of the can to tip down and under, out of the way, with the added benefit that the level of the liquid will not as-otherwise-likely reach the top of the pour spout, sealing it off, causing the "glugging" that makes a huge mess.

Try it! It just pours straight down, no glugging.