We arrived on the Mediterranean island of Porquerolles in time to watch the sunset while we ate dinner at the conference center where my husband is spending his week while I paint, swim, and hike. I was glad to see our friends, but every glance past them teased a potential painting. When we got to our room, I was happy to see bits of the sea through the window. Making this quick first sketch of a Porquerolles view was very satisfying.
After enjoying the museums in Nice, we walked along the Promenade des Anglais. The promenade was busy, and sunbathers and swimmers packed the beach below, a perfect scene for a quick sketch. Somehow I made both the sea and the sand look like San Diego’s, but even so, it is a sweet memory of Nice.
From our balcony and my admiring eyes.
The set-up lat night was from a different time that we all remembered-rotary phones, Yellow Pages, and long evenings without media.
The last time I painted at San Dieguito Lagoon, it was a bright, sparkling day. I hoped for a similar day yesterday so I could paint shimmering water; however, it was overcast with a very light drizzle, and the tide was out!
As I was looking around, I noticed a tiny house up on a rise between two beautiful old pine trees. The harmony between the trees, house, and location caught my eye and I tried my hand at painting its tranquility. Now I can’t wait for another drizzly day to go back and paint it again.
Although I often paint figures, I am confused about how to place several into a landscape so that their relative sizes are believable. So I was happy when I saw that Peggi Kroll Roberts was offering a three session online class addressing just this issue and have been happily completing her exercises.
The Thursday plein air painters met at the galleries in Spanish Village, a place popular with tourists and artists, and a perfect place to practice placing people into a landscape using one-point perspective as a guide. Unfortunately, the two figures on the right side grew a few inches as I painted, but even so, I think overall, the figures are believable. Next, I need to make them more lively!
What a great idea this is for breakfast tomorrow! Unfortunately, it is a scene we painted during tonight’s online Tuesday night still-life. I especially loved painting the pattern of the tablecloth.
Deliberate Sketching 