Topanga Hillside Pastel

I lived in Denmark for two years, 1993 - 1994, and when I returned to Los Angeles in 1995 I couldn't find work in animation for a year. In the two years I'd been gone from the States I'd lost all studio contacts and pretty much had to start over again. In all fairness, when I moved to Europe I had no intention of coming back, but things didn't work out and I did. That's another story. Meanwhile, I wondered where I'd gone wrong and what had steered me into the art and animation field in the first place. I decided to take a look at myself as an artist and at what inspired me in art school. I took a pastel painting class at Santa Monica College and rediscovered pastels.

One of the first places I went out painting with some friends was in Topanga Canyon. One of those friends, whom I will talk about more in the future, kept bugging me to try oil paints. As much as I love pastels, once I tried oils it was hard to go back. This painting was done with Schmincke soft pastels on sanded paper. I think it was about 12" x 16".