Books and DVD's by Steve Alan

Heading north on Highway 101 in Carlsbad, California, just before Palomar Airport Road there is a stretch of road that comes very close to the ocean. This road has a distant view of the Encinas Power Plant, a sandy beach and a small lifeguard house on stilts. People like to run or walk the sandy beach that stretches for miles all along the shore. In the distance you can see Dana Point.

If you look out over the ocean at the setting sun, you will see its luminous reflections in the waves, as a sailboat on the horizon makes its way home to the harbor. The curving road that leads toward the plant has guardrails on wooden posts. At sunset, they cast long
shadows across the highway as the sun sets.

What you will learn in this
picture:

• Sunlight and shadows on the tower and plant building
• Distant mountains
• Perspective and lead-in with the road
• Lifeguard house silhouette and shadow
• Weeds and grasses
• Waves and setting sun
• Cast shadows of the guardrails

$9.99

There was a very old couple that lived in a cabin in the woods. They never had children, but felt as though the trees were their family.

Every day, summer or winter, rain or shine, they would take long walks in the woods. One of their favorite walks was along a little footpath that ran beside a river. As they strolled along, they would chat about the animals or plants they saw.

After many happy years of this, the man became too old to walk with his wife. When she had to walk through the woods alone, it was not the same for her. To keep herself company, she decided to plant his favorite trees every ten feet along the bank above the river.

Before long the fast-growing trees were as tall and straight as he used to be, and she would speak to each one as she came upon it, just as she used to talk with him.

What you will learn in this picture:

• The order of things (what to paint first, second, etc.)
• The pencil sketch
• How to paint in the sky
• How to paint a moving river
• How to paint realistic rocks
• How to fashion realistic bushes and grass
• How to paint 3-dimensional trees with leaves

$9.99

There was an old sea captain who spent his whole life sailing around the world. When he retired, he wanted to be close to the ocean he loved for so many years. So he moved to Maine and bought a house high up on a cliff overlooking the ocean.

One day the mayor of the nearby town approached the old sea captain and said "Our little harbor is getting very busy with boat and ship traffic. We want to build a light house and you have the best spot on the coast. Can we build it next to your house?"

The old sea captain agreed, on the condition that he would become the first lighthouse keeper. So a 3-story tower was built and attached to his house. A balcony was erected on top where he could observe the weather.

Eventually, the light itself at the very top with a red tin roof created the landmark it has become today. At night and in stormy weather the light can be seen for three miles away.

On good weather days, like the one in this picture, the lighthouse is still a guide for all the little boats that enter the harbor.

What you will learn in this lesson:

• The power of a diagonal sky
• How to lift out the tower light
• Shadows that create a curved shape like the tower
• How to paint fir trees
• How to scrape out cliffs
• How to paint waves

$9.99

The little town of Rocky Point in the state of Maine needed a lighthouse to help with  increasing traffic into its harbor. The mayor and his aides chose Rocky Point, just across from the larger Green Point, as the new site. This unused little point of land was perfect for the tower of the new lighthouse because the foundation needed to be built into the rock to be strong enough to withstand the winter's storms.

The three-story tower was built from concrete. A red metal roof and balcony were added on the top to hold the electric lamp. Its powerful light could be seen more than three miles away.

What you will learn in this picture:

• The order of things (what to do first, second, etc)
• The pencil sketch
• How to paint a sunset sky
• How to lift out the sunbeams
• How to paint rocks
• How to paint the sun and its reflections
• How to paint a realistic lighthouse with candy striping on the tower

$9.99

All lifeguards in the little village of La Jolla (in San Diego) know that one spot above all others is the best assignment. Palm Point had the best view and the best shade.

Whenever they can, they try to get assigned to Palm Point. Here, as the sun begins its final descent, you can see the lifeguard house
situated on a sandy spot where the surfers gather.

The cool shade of the palms gives this place its name. A flock of pelicans roams over the waves looking for food as a sailboat, hugging the shoreline, makes it way back to port.

What you will learn in this picture:

• The order of things (what to paint first, second, etc.)
• How to paint palm trees
• How to paint rocks
• How to paint a lifeguard tower
• How to paint a sailboat
• How to paint birds
• How to paint bushes
• How to paint a setting sun on the ocean.
• How to paint shadows

$9.99

This was the formal garden of Marie Antoinette, the 13-year-old Queen of France. When she first moved to the Palace of Versailles, she wanted to make some changes that her husband, the young dauphin King Louis, let her make.

This garden was to commemorate the struggle of the Americans for independence over England, which in those days was the enemy of France.

At the end of the garden ram the River Seine and beyond it the distant mountains. The trees lining the gravel pathway are Italian cypresses, perfect for their cone like shape and fast growing ability.

What you will learn in this picture:

• How to paint the perspective of a pathway going off into the distance
• How to make realistic cypress trees that support the illusion of distance
• How to paint shadows that are consistent with the direction of the light source (here the direction of the sun)
• How to paint the river with light playing on its surface

$9.99

In the late 1800's, there was a very poor and thirsty village in the Middle East. Although water lay less than a mile to the north, the government would not build the much needed canal that would bring in the life giving water to the village.

In that village there lived a man name Abraham, who decided to dig his own canal. So Abraham gathered all his friends and relatives and started to dig. After nine months they had a six-foot wide canal coming from the distant mountain all the way to the village.

The transformation was astounding! The village started to thrive almost immediately. Date palm trees were planted all along the length of the canal and villagers had abundant water for farming.

In his old age, Abraham's greatest joy was still to walk along the canal with his cane in hand to enjoy the flow water that gave life to his village and its people.

What you will learn in this picture:

• The order of things.. what to paint first to last
• How to create distant mountains with a sunny side
• Perspective in the canal and the palm trees along its bank
• How to make reflections in water
• How to make cast shadows from the palm onto the sand

$9.99