This painting has the same basic configuration found in other paintings of the “castle”; at one point in its development it seemed to show a smiling face. Hence the title: Smile ofCoyote HilIs. These hills are located on the north side of Fullerton. They rise up a couple hundred feet and overlook the city. A fence closes off much of the unused land which at this point seems destined for housing developments and perhaps a nature reserve. For two decades I have lived nearby and can walk to an entrance in a few minutes, which explains my many landscapes of Coyote Hills.

Afternoon light on Coyote Hills viewed from the
West brings a new richness in form and color to
the steep cliffs and to the trees at their base.
You can almost feel the force of the glacier that
cut through the stone millennia ago and left behind this magnificent set of hills.
I am particularly pleased with the rhythm created by the yellow-green trees which recede from lower right to upper left. This rising action of the trees is circumscribed by a path or roadway which ends at the horizon. The upper third of the painting, including rocks and sky, became a key area of interest. Painting the face of a great cliff which has split into two parts, while maintaining a unified horizon, was a major challenge.

So named because the rocky configuration seemed like a castle. I have probably made a dozen paintings of Coyote Hills, modifying the compositions with simplified shapes and adjusting the color to create a balanced painting remained the chief goal of this series.

This painting of Coyote Hills is one of the oldest
in the series. Seen in the early morning from a high and more distant and viewpoint the landscape appeared to divide into warm foreground and cool background. The “ Castle”looks lower here at the right hand edge of a long diagonal ridge which casts a shadow on the cliff side below.

Drawings for this scene were made from the
closed-off entrance to a construction site near off Rosecrans near the fire station. The painting foregrounds the deep shadow of the late afternoon sun as it climbs a grassy hill at whose summit lies another “ castle”- like formation of sandstone. I was intrigued by
this rich opposition of light and shadow as well as the powerful contrast of near and far which met my eye as I looked up the hill along Rosecrans.

An impressionistic landscape where the central
sunlit peak can stand for Buddha among his disciples. Natural lighting derived from studies of the Southern California Coyote Hills scene.

A central steep cliff surmounted by a billowing cloud hovers over a depthless chasm while a row of sun-baked Eucalyptus trees frames the scene. Thinking of great early Twentieth California landscape painters - Edgar Payne and William Wendt.

A return to the visual idea of the “castle”, where a large stone form reaches to the sky and a partly shaded mass lies opposite. Twisted areas of warm color in the foreground stand for trees and echo the swirling movement of the clouds above.

These Coyote Hills landscapes, while seen at different times of the day, have the same goal: to capture the ruggedness of the terrain by emulating the play of light and shadow as it crosses the landscape. A shared palette of warm reddish tones and cool gray-greens reflects the dryness of these Southern California hills.

Although this painting still represents Coyote Hills, it was the last canvas painted in this series and the most literal. The view across a somewhat open field to a settlement with houses and a barn. A large group of trees marks the middle ground, while in the distance rises a profile of the hills. The sloping range of clouds was painted as a contrast to the serenity of the rest of the scene.

A distant view of Coyote Hills. The warm
tones of the limestone hills dominate the lower
two thirds of the painting. The whole scene is structured on a restful framework of zig-zagging diagonal lines. From the left horizon across to the “castle” on the right, to the shadowy ravine at the middle left , across the bottom third of the scene to a bush on the right side, and finally up the foreground slope to a large tree at the bottom left corner. All of this without sacrificing the naturalism of the place.

A green belt of trees separates the sunny path near the top of the hills from the pond below. Above the trees the landscape fades to lighter shades of pink and violet.

Early in my searches of the landscape North of Fullerton I came upon this view. It is my favorite view of Coyote Hills, and what I later came to call the “ castle” because of the craggy peak in the upper right corner of the painting. Among my paintings there are at least a dozen versions of this motif. In this one and several others I liked the feeling of deep space and extreme verticality that comes from contrasting the foreground trees with the implied depth of the ravine below them. And in turn moving from that depth to the height of the peaks above.

This Buddha was the first Buddha I painted.
Its location: Black Star Canyon. It was started in the late afternoon and stopped because of darkness. Finished the next day. The color and shape of the central mass feels about right, but in the supporting hills I pushed the contrast between the reddish rock and the green foliage. I still like the majesty of the central peak (the Buddha).
Framed in a thick black frame.

The trail entering Clark Park from Rosecrans drops off suddenly on the east side of the park.
I simplified the scene to increase the feeling of
a disappearing path. The foreground elements - rocks, trees, the trail itself - are compressed in space to allow the background - distant hillside and late afternoon mottled sky- to open
up the space and suggest an abrupt drop off at the end of the trail. Framed in a thick black frame with a hint of gold.

Coyote Hills to the right.

Framed in a thick black frame.

Clark Park is a short walk from my house in Fullerton. It is usually filled with people. This day it was deserted and I was able to set up an easel and record the scene en plein air. The focus of the painting is a bridge seen from a steep height and the light reflecting off the water beneath it.

The trail which surrounds Clark Park climbs to
a summit on the North side of the park. This painting records the landscape visible from the summit in late afternoon. I was able to capture the shadows on the hillside including the fading light on the trail below.

This is one of my most carefully designed landscapes- and one of my most true to life
paintings as well. It was the outcome of extensive sketches and careful drawings of portions of the landscape. Its effectiveness is due to the controlled reduction in size of natural objects like trees as they recede towards the horizon.

Coyote Hills. The warm reds of the rocks contrasts to the greens and violets of the vegetation and the shadowed slopes. The "castle" effect allows endless variations on this theme. All of these depended initially on either drawings or photographs or both.

Coyote Hills. The warm reds of the rocks contrasts to the greens and violets of the vegetation and the shadowed slopes. The "castle" effect allows endless variations on this theme. All of these depended initially on either drawings or photographs or both.

Deep Vista # 4. Coyote Hills. The warm reds of the rocks contrasts to the greens and violets of the vegetation and the shadowed slopes. The "castle" effect allows endless variations on this theme. All of these depended initially on either drawings or photographs or both.

Orange house. Clouds in pastel colors.

Framed in a thick black frame.

Coyote Hills. The warm reds of the rocks contrasts to the greens and violets of the vegetation and the shadowed slopes. The "castle" effect allows endless variations on this theme. All of these depended initially on either drawings or photographs or both.

This delightfully shady path covered with pine needles is a favorite place for walkers at Clark Regional Park in Fullerton. And because it is next to the Coyote Hills golf club, it is also a good place to look for stray golf balls.

Framed in a thick black frame.

A variation on Parking Station Nine. Taken from the same spot, this small painting captures the mood of the sun burning through the morning haze. Frame is included.

Framed in a thick black frame.

Framed in a beautiful gold colored frame.