It was a quiet December afternoon at Lake Murray in San Diego, and a perfect opportunity for a 30-minute sketch. I liked the way the eucalyptus branch was shaped like the shoreline of the lake and shortened the tree’s height so the branch would fit onto my 6 x 12-inch sketchbook.
This morning I painted at Mission Beach in San Diego, with the Wednesday Painters from the San Diego Watercolor Society. Even by ten there was still quite a bit of fog, although the sun was bright. The figures on the beach were backlit and seemed to be silhouettes against the morning mist. It seemed like a good opportunity to show the figures by using negative painting, that is, painting the area around the figures, but not actually painting the figures.
This is a 12 X 23-inch gouache painting on black paper.
I sketched today at Balboa Park’s Desert Garden. It is a delightful place on top of the mesa, full of succulents and cactus. Unfortunately, there are no name plates so I am not confident that this is a yucca. Regardless, this particular plant captures my eye and I have now sketched it many times.
I got good a good start on this painting when I was over at Ramona Grasslands Preserve last Saturday, but I had to wait until today to finish it. This began as a bright morning scene with intense backlighting but somehow became more of a bright moonlight landscape.
I drove up to Cuyamaca Lake today with a friend where we painted. It was cold with a heavy sky and I liked the dark shapes that I saw along the edge of the forest.
This afternoon I went over to Lake Murray Park and painted for a few hours. The late afternoon light had a golden glow which was especially bright on the bark of the Eucalyptus trees along the shore. A woman and her small dog with a large tail came along and obliged me by admiring the view for a few minutes.
The last three days I have used paper that is about twice as long as it is wide. The first day I used it in landscape mode, these next two days in portrait. I like the way the portrait orientation suggests the majesty of nature.
This is a 6 X 12-inch gouache painting.
Torrey Pines State Reserve was a perfect place to paint this morning. I arrived expecting heavy fog but it had already moved out over the Pacific. As I thought about a vista to paint, my eyes kept looking over at my friend. I thought her silhouette and easel against the ocean was just gorgeous. So instead of a painting of the view from the West Overlook, this became a painting about an artist doing her best to capture beauty.
This is a 13 X 20- inch gouache and casein painting on heavy black bristol board.
Deliberate Sketching 