I liked the way that the light caught the edge of the model’s forehead and glasses as she sat in a chair. The light was so bright that the rest of her seemed to be shadowed and the details were hard to make out.
There is a canyon near Balboa Park in San Diego that I have painted several times. It has a stark footpath that zigzags up to the mesa from the canyon floor. Runners and hikers love it and I do too.
This the the first time I dared to use a full sheet of watercolor paper (30 x 20 inches) while painting plein air and I got a bit lost in the expanse of it.
I liked the flush on this models’s face and the way her eyes were so large as she looked sideways off to her right side.
I painted this morning under eucalyptus trees in Del Mar. The air was damp but clear and the eucalyptus colors were strong.
A model can make all the difference in a painting. The poses she chooses, the way she channels attitudes, and the clothing she wears can make all the difference to the way the artist interprets a scene.
This morning we had a particularly expressive model, and as a result, I had a very productive three hours of painting. I liked so many of my 20- minute gouache sketches that I had trouble picking a favorite to share, which is an unusual experience for me. I eventually chose this one because her lowered head and steady gaze conveyed a brooding attitude that was accentuated by the blue clothing.
We stood in the Santa Margarita River and painted. It was a very hot day and the temperature reached 93 degrees Fahrenheit (34 degrees Celsius). But even though the heat said summer, the foliage said autumn and it was a treat to attempt to capture an autumn scene.
Our model yesterday wore a bright orange top that she wore pulled down from her shoulders. The orange was reflected on her skin but I never quite got a blue for the skin’s shadows that I really liked. I eventually tried some turquoise blue, which you see above.
Deliberate Sketching 