Thursday, September 9, 2010

Gentle Truckee River - in private collection



Sergio Lopez and I painted from a bridge over the Truckee River between Truckee and Northstar. I always enjoy painting water and wanted to lean toward the abstract in this piece. This was painted for my great host who put us up for the 2010 North Tahoe Plein Air event. Unfortunately I did not get a great photo of this painting.

To see more of my paintings please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Plum Island - in private collection



This was painted for my host in Door County for the Plein Air event there. He was a gracious host that made us feel at home so we wanted to do something special for him. This is at the northeast end of Door County looking northeast toward the islands. It was an unusual light and the water had an interesting coloration to it. This is one of those paintings where you paint it and then it almost immediately gets a new home so you never see it again; or at least for a while. Usually I can live with a piece for a while but then again this is a plein air event and that is what they are all about.

To see more of my paintings please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Back Yard Wheelbarrow - in private collection


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We had a paintout at Baileys Harbor, in Door County, and I saw this wheelbarrow behind the Blacksmith Inn and what can I say, it just spoke to me. I really liked the deep values of the glossy black paint against all the other textures in the sunlit scene. Then I thought "who would want a painting of a wheelbarrow" so I kept walking around searching for something that was more "Door County" to paint since I could paint a wheelbarrow anywhere. Lori Putnam was across the street painting a beautiful porch scene full of reflected light. Carole Gray Weihman was painting a beautiful garden and big Al had his wheelbarrow. After wasting an hour or more searching I was pulled back to the wheelbarrow and its shiny black paint. By the time I started painting I realized my beautiful sunlight filled scene would soon be going to shadow so I quickly laid in spots of color.
I had several folks come by to see what I was up to and I'm sure some were snickering to themselves "what was this crazy Cali guy thinkin!". I had fun painting my wheelbarrow and it has found a nice home with a good artist friend of mine.
To see more of my paintings please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Door County Wetlands - Sold


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The next day we scouted around the peninsula and ended up just up the road from where we painted the day before. I liked the way the water looked silvery with the reflections of the morning sky. This painting was one of my favorites from the week and it sold at the preview show. I wish I had a better photo of this as there's a lot more color in the sky than shows up in this image.
To see more of my paintings please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Sunday, July 18, 2010


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This was the first painting that I did for the 2010 Door County Plein Air. I struggled with this painting but was happy with it by the time I finished it. I didn't look at it very much until the end of the week when I framed all of my paintings for the show and somehow remembered it being stronger. This was my first time to paint in Door County and I guess it took me a little while to get use to the different scenery and light. Loved painting back there and this is one of the premier events that I've been invited to paint in. Hope to get back soon to paint and visit with my new friends.
To see more of my paintings please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Okay, so it's been a while since my last post in June of 2010. I have a lot I'll be adding in the weeks ahead to get caught up. I'll start with adding my paintings from the 2010 Door County Plein Air event which is a fantastic event with great artists and its put on by the wonderful folks at the Peninsula School of Art.

Enough with the excuses and now I'll get to my next post.I'll be adding them on the date the were painted.

--Al

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Pacific Light - Sold


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This was painted from the south end of San Clemente looking over the beach to the Pacific. I loved the subtle quality of the light that afternoon; it had such an ethereal look to it. I decided to keep my values close together and to keep it more abstract then I would usually paint. I really enjoyed painting this scene; as I do most sunset type paintings. You have to work really fast and not second guess yourself. I also used more paint then I usually do and that's something that I'm always striving to do. I hope you enjoy this painting.
To see more of my paintings please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Afternoon Tee

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Overlooking a fairway in the San Clemente hills. I painted this over two afternoons and of course the light was different both days. I liked looking down on the strong, late afternoon light on the course below with the foreground hill in shadow giving way to the coast and ocean beyond. Georgia Mansur and Wendy Franklin stopped by as Carole and I were painting. Wendy did a nice little painting off to my left.

To see more of my paintings please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

San Clemente Girl

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This model posed for us at the San Clemente Plein Air Quickdraw. At a quickdraw the artists have a short period of time to complete the painting, although this one is longer than most. The artists could choose from two models, still life set-ups or paint around town along the street. I believe there were about 75 artists painting at this quickdraw.

To see more of my paintings please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Fading Light, Los Gatos - Sold

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On the last evening of the Los Gatos Plein Air I was looking for a place to paint the fading light and catch some atmosphere. I walked along the river and found this scene as the light was passing through the hills around Los Gatos.

To see more of my paintings please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Black Ridge Vineyards

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Black Ridge Vineyards near Los Gatos was nice enough to let a group of us painters come onto their property and paint en plein air. They were still in the construction phase on some of their buildings so it was still closed to the public. Lori Putnam, Carole Gray-Weihman and I met up there and had some beautiful views to choose from. I'm looking forward to going back for some wine tasting! This was painted for the Los Gatos Plein Air in 2010.

To see more of my paintings please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Los Gatos Afternoon - Sold

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This was one of the first paintings that I painted for the Los Gatos Plein Air in 2010. I liked the silhouette of the foreground hill in shadow against the pale sky. There were four of us painting at this location. Thomas Kitts, Lori Putnam, Carole Gray-Weihman and myself. Good times!

To see more of my paintings please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Carmel Valley

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In search of a bit of sunshine Carole and I drove up the Carmel Valley and stopped to paint where the fog bank broke to let in some sun light. Painting on the edge of a fog bank made you a little nervous as it would go up and down the valley a little bit. Overall it held pretty well so that we could finish our paintings.

To see more of my paintings please visit my web site: Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Quiet Waters

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This was painted off of Highway 1 south of Carmel for the Carmel Art Festival in 2010. It was another one of those gray misty days and I was looking for something with contrast to paint. This was a fun, quick painting to paint.

To see more of my coastal paintings please visit my web site: Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Cypress Overlook

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This was painted in Point Lobos California State Park for the Carmel Art Festival in 2010. It was one of those gray misty days and I was having a hard time finding something to paint. I was pleased to receive an Honorable Mention award for this 14" x 11" painting.

To see more of my coastal paintings please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Off Point Reyes

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This is a 20" x 24" studio painting that was painted from a 9x12 plein air study. This was fun to paint and I took photos to create a step study. I'll post it once I process the images and make a video.

To see more of my paintings please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Dillion Beach Sunset

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This is an 18" x 24" studio painting that was painted for my One Man Show at the Napa Valley Museum that ran March 5 - April 18, 2010. This is currently on display at the Pelican Art Gallery in Petaluma, CA.

To see more of my paintings please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Japanese Boy

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This is a young man from Japan who was here studying English. He left the next day to head home to Japan. He looked quite somber posing until he took his breaks. He then became quite animated. He wanted to buy this painting and walked around for 10 minutes holding it like a kid in a toy store until I let him know the cost. He then asked if he could take a photo instead. I kind of wish I would have given it to him as he was so excited holding it. Who would enjoy this painting more then he would. The painting took about 2 1/2 hours to paint.

To see more of my portraits and figurative work please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Rock Rose head study

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This was my second painting done at the Rock Rose Studio. It took less than 3 hours. I enjoy painting there as I get to paint portrait and figurative work with a few other local artists.

To see more of my portraits and figurative work please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Study of April

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This was painted at the Rock Rose Study in Petaluma, California. A group of artists get together on Thursdays and once in a while there will be a 3 hour session on Tuesdays. This is the first of several paintings that I painted there. This is a cropped portion of a three quarters of a full figure painting. I don't currently have a good photo of the full painting.

To see more of my portrait and figurative paintings please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Petaluma Street Scene

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Ray Roberts came to town to drop off a few paintings to the Pelican Art Gallery and wanted to do some street scenes. I joined him down the street and painted this looking towards the east and the setting sun. The sun was still pretty high up when I started but I finished around 6:45pm. This took just over an hour or so. The local teenagers would come by and raz me until I started to get the board covered. By the end I had a small flock gathered around and they were wanting me to paint them in. It was fun to see them getting into the painting. Ray took a snapshot of them gathered around, the tallest maybe as high as my shoulder but alas, the photo may be gone forever on my dead hard drive. Ray did a great studio painting from his sketch and its at the Pelican Art Gallery and worth a look.

To see more of my plein air paintings please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Self Portrait sketch

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This is an oil painting, self portrait sketch that I started at the beginning of the year after I had started growing a beard which is now long gone.

To see more of my portraits and figurative work please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.