Painting at Los Peñasquitos Lagoon
If you get impatient while waiting for a coat of paint to dry, you can end up destroying your work. One solution is to have a second sketchbook on hand with which to distract yourself. I sketched some of the other painters from yesterday and painted it at home today using yesterday’s sketch as a guide for the colors.
This is a 9 X 9 inch gouache sketch on black paper.
Tide Going Out At Los Peñasquitos Lagoon
The plein air group painted this morning at Los Peñasquitos Lagoon, which is part of the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve located just north of San Diego. The lagoon winds its way through the salt marsh and emptied itself pretty rapidly during the three hours I was there this morning. I used directional brush strokes to show the movement of the water and to suggest the different kinds of vegetation in the lagoon.
This is a gouache sketch in a 17 X 12 inch Derwent sketchbook with black paper.
November 1, 2017: I made some changes to this sketch today. The sandbar is extended and now there are a few birds on it.
Lily Pond Corner at Balboa Park
Our plein air class went back to the Lily Pond at Balboa Park. I worked on reflections again. This time I left a large amount of black paper unpainted to suggest deep water and to contrast with the lily pads and reflected building and plants.
This is a 9 X 9 inch gouach sketch.
Labyrinth
The Arizona ranch has a labyrinth that was both sunny and mysterious. This is one of the sketches that I hope to develop further this week.
A Serious Game of Chess
We spent a long and wonderful weekend in a remote part of Yavapai County, Arizona. Our nephew and his bride were married at ranch where many of us could camp and reconnect with each other over the course of three days. Playing games together is a big part of our traditions together and I was glad to capture three cousins at a serious game of chess.
A Conversation
Conversations are another major feature of our reunions and I was glad to get this quick sketch of two of the uncles as they sat on a bench together.
And here are two sketches made from the passenger seat of our camper. The first is near Salome Arizona on our way there and the second from Peeples Valley on our return.
All of these sketches were very quickly made and are still underdeveloped. I like them because they capture an impression of the weekend. I have a two more sketches from the weekend that I plan to develop more fully later this week.
Reflections
Last July I got a good start painting this sketch of my sister and her barefoot child. I liked the body language between the two of them but had trouble with the hillside above the pond. When I had to stop before finishing, I put it aside thinking I would get to it later. Tonight I added some lights on the hill and the right side of the water and that seems to have fixed it for me.
This is a 12 X 12 gouache sketch on black paper.
Pirates of Penzance at the SD Opera
The San Diego Opera invites artists to its first rehearsal for many of its productions such as its upcoming Pirates of Penzance. We get to sit up close in magnificent chairs and sketch just as fast as we possibly can. I will go back later and make some changes to some of these sketches, but for now here is what I have.
I began most of these sketches by drawing with pastel pencil on black paper. Sometimes the scene changed before I got a chance to add color. But I did take some pictures and may go back and add color to the sketches like the two below.
Deliberate Sketching 