An interior scene is an unusual yet fitting final sketch for our two weeks in San Pancho. On our first day here, my sister-in-law received a stunning birthday bouquet from our cousin. It captured my eye the entire time we stayed together because of its shape and colors. Although I intended to paint it, I kept deferring, as so many other scenes caught my attention.
I finally painted it using a composition I am experimenting with- a still-life in the foreground with a figure in the distance.
Today is Constitution Day in Mexico, and the beach here in San Pancho was full of people enjoying the long weekend. A lot was going on, and I had trouble deciding what to sketch. Eventually, I noticed a young couple sharing a towel, chatting, and watching their son play in the surf. I liked their companionable vibe and tried to capture some of it in this sketch.
A leisurely breakfast while sketching delights me, and San Pancho is the perfect place for this indulgence. The Cielo Rojo, a few blocks from where we are staying, is full of art, color, movement, and good food. I wanted to capture some of its charm in this sketch.
The waves here in San Pancho are full of force and beauty, as are the people who play in the surf.
I watched a mom and baby play along the water’s edge before I got into sketching them. Initially, the mom held the child by both hands as the wave crashed toward them, lifting the baby just above the wave as it broke. Each time the baby was drenched, she laughed and reached out for more. By the time I started this sketch, the mom was holding her squirming baby, who seemed determined to get back into the water.
Showing the surging waves is a challenge. Today I experimented with making shorter, choppier strokes to mimic the sea’s energy and like this better than my earlier attempts.
Two children at the far end of the beach were tirelessly jumping off rocks. They stood on the ledge waiting for an incoming wave and then jumped as the wave filled the small pool below the rocks. Then they would ride the wave to the beach, scramble up the rocks, and jump again. It was the most joyful thing I have seen in a long time, and I quickly tried to capture it in this sketch.
People packed the beach. It was a busy and noisy place, but these two stood quietly together along the edge of the sea, as though they lived alone on their personal beach.
I was just sketching, collecting what was in front of me onto a single page. First one figure, then a second at 90 degrees to the first, then sky, umbrellas, chairs, sand, and finally, a bit of the sea.
Deliberate Sketching 