Morning at San Pancho Beach.
Late afternoon view from the balcony of a condo in San Pancho, a village north of Puerto Vallarta.
What better place to exercise than along a canyon edge?
Yesterday I painted at Pioneer Park in San Diego, along with the Thursday painters. The park was full of people. We were all enjoying a perfect January morning in San Diego, green because of our recent rains, bright because our blue sky was back, and joyful because we were outdoors.
I picked out a view and was standing at my easel thinking about how to paint it, when I noticed two women visiting each other in a patch of sunlight somewhere in the middle of my scene. Although I normally start with the big shapes of a painting and then add details, I immediately knew that I should make the painting about these two. I quickly sketched them into the painting and later placed the lawns, shadows, and trees around them.
I enjoy visiting our friends for many reasons, including the magnificent view from their deck. An overgrown canyon opens to the distant Mission Gorge mountains, and the scenery seems to change as the sun and occasional clouds brighten and dim parts of the vista.
We had a nice bouquet of flowers with lovely late afternoon light. I sat down to sketch it, and before I knew it, it was time for dinner.
It is heavenly to wake up immersed in art.
A wonderful artist friend gave us a handmade quilt, perfect for these long winter nights and lovely to sketch while some sleep late. I did not do the quilt justice but it is a pattern with randomly colored stars. We have an unending discussion over which is the best part of the quilt and look forward to spending many years thinking through this conundrum.
Deliberate Sketching 