Gavin Fine Art & Design

The World Famous surfing beaches of San Onofre State Beach are depicted in this ink & watercolor painting by Paul Gavin. This image spans surfing generations with Old Mans and Dog Patch in the foreground to Lower Trestles in the background.

Quintessential California Surf Beach

The third Premier Coastal Series piece, this painting captures the quintessential California surf beach feel. One of the only places along the Southern California coast where surfers and swimmers can drive their vehicles down on an unpaved road and spend the day.

Now a state beach, San Onofre has been a surf spot since the 1930s based on interviews with people who were there. One person remembers hearing about Pearl Harbor being bombed while down at that beach.

When painting the piece, I had to decide whether to paint the beach with old cars, or as is, featuring the actual current beach goers. As can be seen, I chose the latter, painting the car line-up of "1990 San Onofre Surf Club Luau" with the exception of the lower left cars that were there on Memorial Day of that same year. A few friends' cars were also added along with my Astro. Most of the vehicles are well know to those who spend time down there, and even a few individuals whose vehicles are there have since gone on to surf that great wave in the sky.

You can see the balloons in the bamboo where someone's first birthday was being celebrated. He is now a teenager.