Plein Air in Malibu

Spending some time in Southern California recently, I was inspired by beautiful Malibu to try and capture something of it's magic. Plein air painting in a hot climate provided a different set of challenges to the ones I usually face in England. ie sun and glare as opposed to rain and wind. I had a beautiful viewing position from the sun deck of the house but the fierce light shone through the canvas in a way that made it almost transparent. Necessity being the mother of invention, I got round this by draping my un-needed wrap behind the canvas thus: 

And then, with the aid of a nice big straw hat I managed several hours attempting to capture something of the magnificence around me. I have to say that, in addition to not getting blown away or wet,  the paint also stayed easier to handle to as the temperature kept it very fluid and workable - definitely a location I loved  and could get used to coping with!