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.
There are two cactus gardens in San Diego’s Balboa Park, one old and the other even older. Both gardens are wonderful but this oldest one is my favorite because it is wild. It is known as the Old Cactus Garden and dates from 1935 when the area was developed for the California Pacific Exposition. This area has remnants of old buildings, terraces, and succulents.
I chose this view of the garden because I liked how the cloudy skies and light rain muted the distant California Tower and Dome. Unfortunately, I didn’t finish this on-site, but I was able to work on it some more today. As I painted, I got carried away and added the wall. To be clear, if you ever go to the Old Cactus Garden, it is highly unlikely that you will see this wall.
I went to a live drawing session yesterday. The model was young, gorgeous, and able to sit still for 20 minutes throughout a three-hour session. Her face had an expression as though she were taking the world in and making plans for it.
It was a good work session and I came home with several good possibilities for portraits. I worked a few more hours on this one today, lifting color out and repainting parts until I was satisfied that I caught some of her beauty and personality.
We have a cozy little room with a fireplace. I love this scene and over the years have painted it several times but never came as close as I did tonight to capturing the feeling of winter nights by the fireplace.
The new paper I am exploring, Colourfix by Art Spectrum, takes layers and layers of gouache and stays intact. And the more layers of gouache I put down, the more intense the colors become. I will have a happy new year learning about this paper.
And I wish a Happy New Year to you!
The table and flowers are from this week’s Tuesday night still-life session. Because I like to include something of my own, I added our kitchen as a background.
Our Thursday Morning plein air group met at the Plaza de Panama in Balboa Park. Recently, I noticed this view with a pedestrian walkway connecting the two fountains. It was on my mind as a potential painting and was even nicer this morning with its long, deep shadows.
Deliberate Sketching 