Emerging Artists | David Savellano - Southwest Art Magazine

San Francisco cruising

David Savellano, Going Upcountry, watercolor, 12 x 18.

This story was featured in the June 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art June 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

BEFORE CALIFORNIA’S statewide stay-at-home order went into effect in response to the coronavirus, artist David Savellano had a fun routine going. The Alameda, CA, artist would pack up his watercolor supplies in a few baskets attached to his electric bike, hop on the battery-powered two-wheeler, and ride to the bay to catch a ferry into San Francisco, where he’d cruise up and down the city streets, scoping out compelling compositions to paint en plein air. “What’s going on in the atmosphere? What are the people doing?” Savellano asks himself before settling on a scene to paint. “I’ve always enjoyed cityscapes because people, places, and a moment in time capture my interest,” he explains. “It’s like you’re being a storyteller about that moment in time.”

: David Savellano, Clay Street—Chinatown, watercolor, 20 x 10.

: David Savellano, Stop Wishin’ Start Fishin’, watercolor, 20 x 10.

: David Savellano, 5 O’clock Shadows, watercolor, 14 x 20.

These days Savellano has had to put his mobile routine on hold for the most part, which has been a challenge. The California native, who worked as an architect for 30 years and now paints full time, admits that he’s a plein-air artist at heart. “The outdoors is my studio,” he concedes. “Right now, I could probably put my supplies on my bike and find a spot where nobody is and do a painting.” Most days, however, Savellano has been staying “hunkered down” in his studio at home. “And I’m getting a lot out of that,” he says.

The artist is finding ways to bring the spontaneity and “hustle” of on-location painting into his studio works, and he’s also finding inspiration right outside his studio window. “I live on the bay in an area where the tide goes in and out, and I paint the shorebirds when the tide comes in and they start feeding,” he says.

: David Savellano, 23rd & Mission, watercolor, 20 x 20.

: David Savellano, Cruising Front Street, watercolor, 20 x 10.

: David Savellano, Going Upcountry, watercolor, 12 x 18.

Savellano recently won Best Watercolor in PleinAir Salon’s December/January competition for his painting CLAY STREET—CHINATOWN. It’s a quintessential Savellano work, capturing not only an iconic section of San Francisco but also the dramatic light-and-shadow effects he seeks out and the loose, spontaneous brushwork he enjoys dashing off on his paper when working en plein air. “I like the immediacy of being able to paint something right then and there,” he says. “Most of my paintings are done on site, in one shot. I don’t take those paintings back into the studio to fix them up.” —Kim Agricola

representation
Village Galleries, Lahaina, HI; www.davidsavellano.com.