Wedding Card for an Adventuresome Couple
At the Pond
Near Estero Trail
I am in Colorado now but want to post this last sketch made earlier this week along the Estero Trail in Inverness California. Some of the water in the estuary glistened from the setting sun and some was far more opaque, perhaps reflecting the incoming fog. I never got it quite right but like it anyway, especially the movement of the fog lifting up from the center of the sketch.
This is a gouache and pastel sketch on black paper.
Annie, Painting Above Inverness
Annie has spent her life painting around the Point Reyes Seashore and she knows the conditions and possibilities. She takes the time to do the thinking work and it shows in the quality of the art she creates. Watching Annie consider the weather and light as she decides on a scene to paint and then seeing her shift into actually painting as she puts down big broad areas of color on a huge sheet of paper was a delight. By the third day I wanted very much to show Annie at work as a plein air painter. This scene is up on a ridge above Inverness and Annie is well into the painting, her eyes still more on the scene she is painting than than on the painting itself.
This is a gouache and pastel painting on 16 x 22 inch black Derwent paper.
Saint John’s Wort
Backlit Tree at Pierce Point Vista
We went to Pierce Point in the Point Reyes National Seashore in the afternoon. The sun was shining and the visibility was excellent, a welcomed change from the usual weather for the locals. There were a few huge trees on rounded hills above the sea and the vistas were gorgeous. Although there were many tempting scenes to paint, I liked the way the sun shone through this tree and the shadow it cast on the ground.
This is a pastel and gouache sketch on black paper.
Looking Across Tomales Bay
I am with my cousin happily sketching for three days near Inverness California. We had a great start this morning along the edge of Tomales Bay with some fog and gorgeous vistas. There was a lot of movement in the sky, water, hills and meadows and I emphasized it even further by making sure the strokes of the paintbrush or pastels were strongly visible on my paper.
This is a pastel and gouache sketch in a 13 X 13 inch Derwent sketchbook with black sheets.
Deliberate Sketching 