Happy Dog

Posted on March 13, 2020 by Sarah Sullivan

I have been using a little collage with my gouache, tearing out pieces of paper and sticking them down with mat medium. I like the look of it and the way I can quickly make changes.

Last weekend I visited my brother’s new dogs in Phoenix and then, back in San Diego, watched a very happy dog chasing balls in the rain. The dog’s joy in chasing a wet ball really impressed me, and I spent some time trying to show it by getting the turn of his head and lift of his feet just right.

I seem to have dogs on my mind. Could this mean that I am ready at last for a new dog?

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Poles on a Hill

Posted on March 3, 2020 by Sarah Sullivan
Poles on a Hill

My ophthalmologist moved to a new office, and the view from the waiting room made me grateful for my good vision. Our California hills are green and the air was clear. I felt like I could see for 20 miles across the canyons. The two utility poles stood tall in contrast to the flat expanses.

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Tide Pools

Posted on March 1, 2020 by Sarah Sullivan
Tide Pools

I notice how absorbed people can get when looking into tide pools and I wanted to capture that feeling with this sketch from Torrey Pines Reserve just north of San Diego.

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More from Lake Atitlán

Posted on February 29, 2020 by Sarah Sullivan

I have been going through my sketchbook from my recent trip to Guatemala and finishing up some of the sketches I made on the trip. Here is one I made of a paddle boarder on a windy Lake Atitlán. I changed the sketch mostly by emphasizing the pattern in the water and the shape of the waves in the foreground.

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A Good Place to Read

Posted on February 19, 2020 by Sarah Sullivan

This morning when I got up, my sister was reading on the patio where we are staying in Antigua. She looked so lovely sitting there with the shining tiles, the greenery in the background, and the two potted plants. It made me want to capture the moment in my sketchbook.

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Not More Homework!

Posted on February 18, 2020 by Sarah Sullivan

Studying Spanish in Antigua Guatemala seems to require doing a lot of homework. At some point this evening, as we sat around the table, I noticed the unenthusiastic demeanor of my sisters and brother-in-law while they conjugated verbs and translated paragraphs. Each of them was holding up their head as they struggled to focus. It brought back memories, and I had to abandon my worksheets and try to capture it all in a sketch.

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Wind on Lake Atitlan

Posted on February 17, 2020 by Sarah Sullivan

I started this on Saturday as we were lurching our way across Largo de Atitlan in Guatemala. The wind was blowing and the waves seemed huge. I felt a sense of danger at the roughness but calmed down when I saw a kayaker in the distance.

I had my sketchbook in my lap and drew the broad lines of this sketch while we were in the motorboat. Then this morning I went back and added the gouache.

Posted in Landscape | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments