My friend and I were painting at Kanaka Landing in Liberty Station, here in San Diego. We were standing at our easels and my friend said, “All we need is someone to come and sit on this bench.”

An hour or so later, another artist appeared and asked, “Would it bother you if I sat here?”

“Not at all,” we said. I was delighted when he pulled out his sketching material because I knew that meant he would stay put a long while.

I abandoned my other painting and quickly made a drawing with a red pastel pencil on my black Bristol board. After working on the hills and the bay, I decided not to paint in the body or the bench. I thought the solidness of the black balanced the palm trees and their reflections in the bay.