Home Garden Retreat

This was painted for the Alameda Plein Air event in 2010. I drove around Alameda looking for something that would catch my eye when I came across this scene. The colors of the flowers and foliage against the weathered fence drew me in and it was fun to paint. 100729

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

Alameda's Park Street Bridge - Sold

This was painted for the Alameda Plein Air event in 2010. I lived in Alameda for many years and had been wanting to try painting this drawbridge. I gave it a shot and I was happy with the results. It sold right at the opening of the show. Unfortunately I never got a great photo of it. I shot this one at the show after it was framed. I painted a vertical version of this for the quickdraw. 100728

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

Door County Farm

This was painted in the afternoon after I painted the wheelbarrow for the Door County Plein Air event. There was another planned paintout and this was the view across the street. Lots of folks stopped by to check up on what I was working on including another wonderful painter, HeeJune Shin. 100720

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

Portrait Workshop in March

I have an upcoming Painting the Head and Figure workshop coming up March 15-17 at the PAL Atelier in Petaluma, CA. For more info or to sign up visit Plein Air Liaison web site at: www.pleinairliaison.com


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

West Bound

This was painted for the Valona Invitational Paint Out sponsored by the Epperson Gallery.  I started this painting a couple days before. The light faded before I could wrap it up so I came back out to Port Costa near Crocket to finish it. There was something about the afternoon light on this hill that drew me to paint it. I was maybe 10 feet away from the tracks but when the trains came you could really feel there mass and power. Sergio Lopez and Philippe Gandiol were painting street scenes 100 feet from me. Good times!


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

Mare Island Afterglow

A nocturne painted near Crocket, CA for the Valona Invitational Paint Out held at the Epperson Gallery. Sergio Lopez and I decided to try a nocturne after painting earlier in the day. I'm pretty happy with the piece considering how difficult it was to see the scene and the painting while painting it. The sun was already way down and there was this really interesting light on these unusual whispers of clouds. Colors mainly painted from memory as I just got a couple spots down before it faded out. This did not photograph particularly well. This received an Honorable Mention Award.

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

Ali Reading - SOLD

This is a painting of Ali Roberts painted at the Kroll Roberts Studio. Ali is a great model and is lots of fun to paint.
To see more of my paintings please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Following the Light Across Europe - Group Show

Lori Putnam, Carole Gray-Weihman, James Richards, Jim Carson and Alfredo Tofanelli and more will be exhibiting in Nashville at Richland Fine Art. The show opening is March 27, 2014 5:00-7:30pm and runs through April 12. If you are in or near Nashville stop by! Visit www.richlandfineart.com to find out more.


This show is centered around Lori's travels through europe and the artists that she painted with along the way. Plein Air Liaison was hosting a painting workshop in Tuscany so the four of us, Peggi Kroll Roberts, Ray Roberts, Carole, and myself met up with Lori, Mark, Sandy, Roos Schuring, James, Krista, Katerina and Jim down in Peschici. The painting above was painted at the next town over called Vieste. Ray and I took a bus over after painting on the Vieste beach the day before. We found this seen after painting in the market earlier in the day.

The painting above was painted right outside the doorway to our flat in Peschici. I kept seeing this scene every time I left the flat so finally I decided to setup at the base of our stairs and paint it. This is the second painting; the first painting had partial sunlight but the sunlight doesn't stay for long with the multilevel houses surrounding these passages. I didn't finished the sunlit piece. Maybe on the next trip!

The four of us, Peggi, Ray, Carole and myself were scouting out locations for the Kroll Roberts Tuscan workshop over five or so days without getting a chance to paint. We visited Florence, Sienna, Cortona, Pienza, Multiulciano, and many other towns along the way. We spent our final night at Acquaviva before heading down to Peschici. This scene was just down the road as we all felt like it was about time to get out and paint now that the scouting was done.

This was painted at our Villa Tenuta Brancoleta in Tuscany. We were well taken care of there and the food was amazing. This scene is the entrance to their beautiful estate. The villa acted as our home base and from there we would take short day trips to paint at beautiful towns like Pienza, Montepulciano and Cortona. You can find out more about this and future trips at: www.pleinairliaison.com I can't wait to go back and hopefully that will be in 2015! This year its off to Costa Brava in Spain.

Dillon Beach Sunset

30 minute study painted during Plein Air Liaison's Dillon Beach Paintout. It was pretty dark by the time I was about 2/3 finished. Sergio Lopez was kind enough to shine some light on my canvas with his iPhone so that I could at least make a decent guess at which colors I was using.


Here's a photo that Sergio took of me with his iPhone painting the above painting.
To see more of my paintings please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Laguna Canyon Trail

This scene caught my eye even those it was a bit of an unusual composition for me. I liked that it lent itself to be a bit abstract. Painted in Laguna Canyon. 10"x8" oil on panel.
To see more of my paintings please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Alameda 2012 Open Studio - June 2&3 and 9&10

Date: June 2-3 and June 9-10
Time: 11am-6pm
Location: 406 Baywood Road, Alameda CA 94502
Open Studios Web Site: www.proartsgallery.org

I will be having an Open Studio at the townhouse in Alameda this June 2 & 3 and June 9 & 10. I will have over a hundred paintings framed and up on the walls. Landscapes, portraits, figurative and still life painting plus lots of unframed paintings.

Most of the paintings were painted around the country in plein air. From around Lake Tahoe to Colorado to Provincetown. Usually they are painted in one session from 45 minutes to 6 hours. Occasionally I will go back a second or third time to finish them up.

Some of the larger paintings are painted in the studio usually based on a plein air piece along with photos that I shot of the location. Several of the studio paintings can be seen along with the plein air version at the Alameda Open Studio.

Come on down and see my work and have a glass of wine and visit!

Painting of Don Wolf

This is a painting of Don Wolf painted on the Wednesday night open sessions at Plein Air Liaison (formerly l'Atelier aux Couleur).Don is a great model and isgreat at locking in a pose not to mention fun to paint.
To see more of my paintings please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

Tomales Bay Morning

This was painted as a demo for a plein air workshop that was held on the Sonoma Coast south of Marshall. I was demonstrating grouping values to just 3 values. Making decisions on what are the fewest values needed to tell my story and then forcing the values I see into one of the three overall values that I have chosen.
To see more of my paintings please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

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.

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.

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.

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.

To receive more information about this painting click here.
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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Vasona Park Bridge - in private collection

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There's a great park in Los Gatos where I paintied this scene for the Los Gatos Plein Air in 2010.
To see more of my paintings please visit my web site; Alfredo Tofanelli Fine Art.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.