This gouache piece was painted at nearly the same time and spot as yesterday’s. Many cows were there, and I selected two sitting ones in hopes that they might stay still long enough to sketch. There was a peaceful evening vibe out in the field, and for today’s sketch, I muted the colors in the foreground, hoping to capture the end-of-a-good-day feeling.
The late afternoon April light of Arizona makes the cows of Spider Ranch stand out against the fields and fence. The intense light nearly turns the upright parts of the scene- the cows, fence, and mountains, into silhouettes.
I have been here a few days and can’t stop painting these beautiful creatures and their landscape.
I sketched at the San Diego watercolor gallery today during the weekly figure drawing session. I love doing 20-minute sketches. The time limit speeds up the decision-making, and I get a stronger, more immediate result. There is only a moment to decide—what is the model’s gesture and mood, where is the light, what do I like about the pose?
These are on 20 x 13 inch Bee black bristol paper with Art Graf for the lines and gouache in the painted areas.
This is from Inspiration Point at Balboa Park, our nearby city park. I was there very early one winter morning and took photos, which I embellished quite a bit to convey how the early morning light felt to me.
This is from my Tourmaline Beach series. I noticed the serenity of the morning and wanted to show it by capturing the leisurely focus of a beachcomber. I tried to make it clear that she was absorbed in looking for shells along the shore, so I tilted the angle of her head and added her right hand pointing down into the left, as though she was asking herself, “What have we here?”
We have had the most beautiful days in San Diego, and the surfers have noticed. Clad in their wetsuits, they have returned to the beaches, much to the delight of onlookers like me.
I liked the slow zig-zag of the gentle waves as they broke on Tourmaline Beach at low tide.
Deliberate Sketching 